Phil Bredesen
Phil Bredesen (Democratic Party) was the Governor of Tennessee.
Bredesen (Democratic Party) ran for election to the U.S. Senate to represent Tennessee. He lost in the general election on November 6, 2018.
Bredesen was the 48th Democratic governor of Tennessee, having served from 2003 until 2011. Click here for more information.
Bredesen also served as the fourth mayor of the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County from 1991 to 1999.[1] Click here for more information.
Biography
Bredesen was born in Oceanport, N.J., but grew up in Shortsville, N.Y., a small agricultural community just south of Rochester. He earned a bachelor's degree in physics from Harvard University. Bredesen moved to Nashville in 1975. While doing research at the public library, he drafted a business plan that led to the creation of HealthAmerica Corporation, a healthcare management company that eventually grew to more than 6,000 employees and was publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange. He sold his controlling interest in HealthAmerica in 1986.[2]
Elections
2018
General election
The following candidates ran in the general election for U.S. Senate Tennessee on November 6, 2018.
General election
General election for U.S. Senate Tennessee
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Marsha Blackburn (R) | 54.7 | 1,227,483 |
 | Phil Bredesen (D) | 43.9 | 985,450 | |
 | Trudy Austin (Independent) | 0.4 | 9,455 | |
 | Dean Hill (Independent) | 0.4 | 8,717 | |
 | Kris Todd (Independent) | 0.2 | 5,084 | |
| John Carico (Independent) | 0.2 | 3,398 | |
| Breton Phillips (Independent) | 0.1 | 2,226 | |
| Kevin Lee McCants (Independent) | 0.1 | 1,927 | |
| Total votes: 2,243,740 | |||
 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Democratic primary election
Phil Bredesen defeated Gary Davis and John Wolfe in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate Tennessee on August 2, 2018.
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for U.S. Senate Tennessee
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Phil Bredesen | 91.5 | 349,718 |
 | Gary Davis | 5.3 | 20,170 | |
| John Wolfe | 3.2 | 12,269 | |
| Total votes: 382,157 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Billy Bailey (D)
Republican primary election
Marsha Blackburn defeated Aaron Pettigrew in the Republican primary for U.S. Senate Tennessee on August 2, 2018.
Republican primary election
Republican primary for U.S. Senate Tennessee
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Marsha Blackburn | 84.5 | 613,513 |
 | Aaron Pettigrew | 15.5 | 112,705 | |
| Total votes: 726,218 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Larry Crim (R)
- Stephen Lee Fincher (R)
- Rolando Toyos (R)
- Edgar A. Lawson (R)
Campaign themes
2018
Campaign website
Bredesen's campaign website stated the following:
BUILDING A STRONG ECONOMY
During Phil Bredesen’s time as governor, Tennessee created more than 200,000 new jobs and generated more than $34 billion in new business investment. Phil worked with U.S. and transnational carmakers to expand Tennessee’s automotive industry, including bringing to the state Nissan’s North American headquarters and Volkswagen’s only North American assembly plant. On his watch, Site Selection magazine designated Tennessee as the top state for economic development.
During Phil’s time as mayor, Nashville enjoyed record economic growth by recruiting high-quality jobs and companies such as hospital chain HCA Inc. He led the city’s efforts to recruit two professional sports teams: the NFL’s Tennessee Titans and the NHL’s Nashville Predators.
In the U.S. Senate, Phil will use his decades of experience in business and government to put forward economic solutions that help Tennessee and America prosper.
SECURING ACCESS TO HEALTH CARE
As governor, Phil Bredesen took control of TennCare — the once-financially troubled Medicaid expansion program — by preserving full enrollment for children and pursuing innovative disease-management initiatives. He expanded long-term care options and launched Cover Tennessee, a series of programs providing health insurance and pharmacy assistance to the uninsured.
Prior to public service, Phil worked in the health care industry. Between research trips to the public library, he drafted a business plan at his kitchen table that led to the creation of HealthAmerica Corp., a Nashville-based health care management company that eventually grew to more than 6,000 employees and traded on the New York Stock Exchange.
A constructive critic of health care reform efforts in Washington, Bredesen is the author of the book “Fresh Medicine: How to Fix Reform and Build a Sustainable Health Care System,” published by Grove Atlantic.
In the U.S. Senate, Phil will use his decades of experience in health care to push for common-sense solutions that benefit all Tennesseans and Americans.
PROVIDING A QUALITY EDUCATION
Under Phil’s leadership as governor, Tennessee made public education a top priority. Working with the legislature, he improved teacher pay and expanded early childhood education. He created the Governor’s Books from Birth Foundation, a statewide expansion of Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, to provide free books to children from birth to age five.
Working with teachers and local school systems, Phil and the State Board of Education raised the bar in the classroom to ensure that all students are ready for a career or college and life. On his watch, Tennessee’s academic standards went from being among the lowest in America to among the highest — earning praise from national experts who noted the Volunteer State proved that “states are capable of dramatic reform when the political leadership is committed to focusing public attention on the problem.”
Phil partnered with higher-education leaders to improve workforce development with a focus on college completion. He elevated the profile of Tennessee’s community colleges and colleges of applied technology. He strengthened the relationship between the University of Tennessee and Oak Ridge National Laboratory to give graduate students access to world-class research opportunities. He worked with the Tennessee Board of Regents to establish new facilities and programs, including a pharmacy school at East Tennessee State University.
In the U.S. Senate, Phil will use his decades of experience in K-12 and higher education to push policies that support states and strengthen America’s public schools.[3]
Campaign advertisements
The following is an example of an ad from Bredesen's 2018 election campaign.
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Political career
Governor of Tennessee (2003-2011)
Bredesen was elected governor on November 7, 2002, and was sworn into office on January 18, 2003. He served two terms, having won re-election on November 7, 2006. Bredesen was ineligible to run in 2010 due to term limits. He was succeeded by Bill Haslam, a Republican, on January 15, 2011.[2]
As governor, Bredesen was a member of the National Governors Association, the Southern Governors' Association, and the Democratic Governors Association.[2]
One of the themes of Bredesen's first term as governor was healthcare while his second term focused more on education. In addition, Bredesen was noted for his refusal to accept a salary during his two terms as the state's chief executive official. This was in part due to the wealth he had earned from the 1986 sale of his controlling interest in HealthAmerica, the healthcare management company he founded out of his small Nashville apartment early in his career.[2]
Death penalty
Bredesen: TN Executions are Humane |
In November 2010, the Tennessee Supreme Court stopped the executions of four death row inmates so a lower court could examine the constitutionality of Tennessee's new lethal injection procedure.[4] The trial courts had 90 days to test whether a new step added during the lethal injection was constitutionally sound. Bredesen stood by Tennessee’s lethal injection protocol despite the Tennessee Supreme Court's decision. He said that he respected the high court’s decision but believed the state was already operating within all confines of the law.
“I’m confident that what we’re doing is humane and sensible and in the main stream, it is certainly what a great many other states do, and that in the end we’ll find that what we’re doing is consistent with the Constitution and the law and that Tennessee will be able to go ahead,” said the former governor.[5]
Mayor of Nashville (1991-1999)
Bredesen was elected mayor of Nashville, Tennessee, in 1991 and was re-elected in 1995.[2]
Bredesen formally entered politics in 1987 as a candidate for mayor of Nashville, Tennessee. He finished second to 5th District Congressman Bill Boner.[2]
Personal
Note: Please contact us if the personal information below requires an update.
Bredesen and his wife, Andrea Conte, have one son, Ben.
See also
External links
- Search Google News for this topic
- Official campaign website
- Facebook campaign page
- Twitter campaign feed
Footnotes
- ↑ Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen's website
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Bipartisan Policy Center, "Phil Bredesen," accessed January 27, 2014
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedbredesenissues - ↑ The Associated Press, "Tennessee Supreme Court halts next 4 executions," November 29, 2010
- ↑ Tennessee Report, "Bredesen: TN Execution Methods ‘Humane & Sensible,’" November 30, 2010
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Don Sundquist |
Governor of Tennessee 2003-2011 |
Succeeded by Bill Haslam (R) |
