Tuke-ing The Stats

By Kleinheider Posted on August 11, 2008 at 8:53 am

Ken Whitehouse explains why Thursday’s primary results were no boost for a Democratic candidate trying to gain traction against Lamar Alexander:

The real shock of the evening was that political unknown Gary G. Davis came in second.

Davis spent no money on his campaign yet picked up 38,971 votes, roughly 21 percent of all the votes cast. While Tuke beat Davis by about 20,000 votes, and the statewide result was an embarrassment to Padgett, the numbers being put out by the Tennessee Division of Elections show that Tuke’s effort to “take the hill” will need some grappling hooks.

According to the Tennessee Division of Elections data, Alexander received more votes than all Democrat challengers combined. Alexander pulled in 243,056 votes compared to the 182,724 votes cast on the Democratic side. That is a margin of 60,332 for Alexander in a largely uneventful primary season.

What this also means is that Alexander received 57 percent of total partisan ballots cast in the combined Democrat/Republican U.S. Senate Primary. Tuke’s 58,946 represented 13.8 percent.

What is most interesting in reviewing the state’s election data is that Davis, the virtually unknown candidate, won more counties than Tuke — 39 to 34 (Tuke tied with Clayton in one county).

SEE ALSO: The REAL Gary Davis

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Tags: Bob Tuke, gary Davis  

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