The 1928 Tennessee gubernatorial election was held on November 6, 1928. Incumbent Democratic governor Austin Peay died in office on October 2, 1927. Tennessee’s Democratic Speaker of the Senate, Henry Hollis Horton became governor according to Tennessee’s gubernatorial succession law. In the general election, Henry defeated Republican nominee Raleigh Hopkins with 61.1% of the vote.
In the primary election, Horton turned to Austin Peay's longtime adviser, Luke Lea, publisher of the "Nashville Tennessean", to help him win re-election. Lea's rivals, Memphis political boss E. H. Crump and Nashville political boss Hilary Howse endorsed Hill McAlister, who had been defeated by Peay in 1926. A third candidate, Lewis S. Pope also sought the Democratic nomination and had the backing of Peay's widow. After a hard-fought primary campaign, Horton won the nomination with 97,333 votes to 92,017 for McAlister and 27,779 for Pope.
Primary elections.
Primary elections were held on August 2, 1928.
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.
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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