2006 Governors Races

Tennessee CBS NEWS PROJECTS PHIL BREDESENWINNER Democrat Phil Bredesen (Incumbent) vs. Republican Jim Bryson While Bredesen won in 2002 by just 3 percentage points, he enjoyed solid approval ratings and was expected to win reelection. Bryson tried to make immigration an issue in the race pointing to a statement Bredesen made describing immigration as a "federal problem." Bryson said that, if elected, he would establish a state office of immigration that would report directly to the governor. Bredesen said he is now "paying attention" to immigration. Bredesen tried to reform TennCare, the state’s health care program that replaced Medicaid, but those reforms resulted in 170,000 people being cut from the program. Bryson was not well-know outside his district and was underfunded. Also, Tennessee has a history of supporting incumbents: a sitting governor hasn’t lost reelection since 1952.