The 1966 Tennessee gubernatorial election was held on November 8, 1966, to elect the next governor of Tennessee. Incumbent Democratic governor Frank G. Clement was term-limited and was prohibited by the Constitution of Tennessee from seeking another term. Former Democratic governor Buford Ellington defeated both independent candidates H.L. Crowder and Charlie Moffett with 81.2% of the vote.
In the primary, Ellington he defeated John Jay Hooker, who was a friend of former governor Gordon Browning, and had been endorsed by the "Nashville Tennessean". Ellington was endorsed by President Lyndon B. Johnson, and the "Nashville Banner".
Tensions grew between Governor Frank G. Clement and Ellington leading up to the general election, as Ellington refused to endorse Clement in his U.S. Senate primary campaign against Ross Bass. Clement attempted to spend the state's budget surplus to ensure the Ellington administration did not inherit it.
Primary elections.
Primary elections were held on August 4, 1966. 32.5% of the voting age population participated in the Democratic primary.
Democratic primary.
Results.
! scope="col" colspan="2" style="width: 15em" |Party
! scope="col" style="width: 17em" |Candidate
! scope="col" style="width: 5em" |Votes
! scope="col" style="width: 3.5em" |%
! colspan="3" style="text-align:right;" | Total votes
General election.
Candidates.
Major party candidate
Other candidates
Results.
! scope="col" colspan="2" style="width: 130px"|Party
! scope="col" style="width: 17em"|Candidate
! scope="col" style="width: 5em"|Votes
! scope="col" style="width: 3.5em"|%
! scope="col" style="width: 3.5em"| ;templatestyles src="Template:Tooltip/styles.css" / ;±%
! colspan="3" style="text-align: right; margin-right: 0.5em" | Majority
! colspan="3" style="text-align: right; margin-right: 0.5em" scope=row | Turnout
! style="text-align:right;" | Swing
References.
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