News

Today, The Best of Tennessee, Inc. announced strong early voting turnout results from its statewide primary election voter mobilization campaign.

Targeting 250,000 voters across 15 state legislative districts, the campaign focuses on increasing primary participation by Tennesseans who routinely vote in the November general election but tend to skip the August primary, encouraging them to begin voting in this critical election.

While the campaign’s messaging is designed to drive Primary Election Day turnout on August 6, 18% of the target audience voted early, accounting for nearly 1 out of every 3 votes cast in these districts between July 17 and August 1. Notably, turnout among early voters in the same districts who were not targeted by the campaign was just 13%.

In Tennessee, where the primary election effectively determines 95% of state lawmakers, the voters who participate in that election wield an extraordinary influence over the direction of the state’s government. Despite that fact, 3.1 million voters participated in the November 2024 general election, but only 650,000 participated in the primary elections that year.

The Best of Tennessee, Inc. believes closing this gap is the first step toward a more representative government.

“If the tiny group of voters showing up to the primary election mirrored the views of the rest of us, we wouldn’t see the disconnect between what comes out of our legislature and what most Tennesseans want,” said Chloe Akers, CEO and Founder of The Best of Tennessee. “Even a small increase in primary participation, especially by the voters we’re targeting, can have an outsized impact on changing who sets the incentives lawmakers respond to — and changing that, changes everything.”

The Best of Tennessee will continue its mobilization efforts through Election Day on August 6. The group’s website provides a voter guide offering Tennesseans more information on where and when to vote, as well as who’s running for office and who is eligible to vote in primary elections.