The Winner

If you live in Tennessee's 2nd U.S. House District, you will continue to be represented in Congress by Tim Burchett (R-TN), who has been declared the winner of the 2026 congressional race, according to the Associated Press. ​

Burchett took about 57.7 percent of the vote to Democrat Michaela Barnett's about 41.2 percent, a margin of about 41,581 votes, according to final unofficial results from Tennessee's state election office, which have not yet been certified. The seat stays in Republican hands.

The Race

Barnett, the Democratic opponent, advanced through the Aug. 6 primary to reach the general election ballot, as did Burchett on the Republican side; two independents, Bruce Fine and Adam Heimerman, also appeared on the general election ballot.

Fine received about 0.7 percent of the vote and Heimerman about 0.4 percent, with the two combining for about 2,777 votes out of roughly 250,980 cast across all four candidates.

Cook Political Report rated the seat Solid Republican, while Inside Elections rated it Solid Republican and Sabato's Crystal Ball rated it Safe Republican, according to Ballotpedia.

The district includes Blount, Campbell, Claiborne, Grainger, and Jefferson counties, according to the Tennessee Secretary of State. The district has a total population of about 792,600 residents, a median household income of about $72,600, and a median age of about 40, according to Geographies data for the district.

About 34.4 percent hold a bachelor's degree or higher; the district's population is about 84.1 percent white, 5.7 percent Black, 5.8 percent Hispanic and 1.7 percent Asian, with an unemployment rate of about 3.6 percent and about 12.2 percent of residents living below the poverty line.

What's Next

Burchett is set to take office on Jan. 3, 2027. Burchett said he is working to stop waste, fraud, and abuse in federal programs, including by advancing legislation to identify duplicative programs and prevent federal student-aid fraud, according to the Office of Rep. Tim Burchett, in a press release dated June 4.

---

AllCiv makes it easy to stay politically informed and involved.

---

Spot something wrong? Report an issue with this article