Tim Burchett
Tim Burchett, a Republican and former Knox County mayor who has represented Tennessee's 2nd congressional district since 2019, seeks re-election in 2026 against Democrat Michaela Barnett.
2026 Races & Market Forecast
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- Born
- August 25, 1964
- Birthplace
- Knoxville, Tennessee
- Education
- Bearden High School (1982)
University of Tennessee (Bachelor of Science in education, 1988)
Biography & Campaign Analysis
Background
Tim Burchett, whose full name is Timothy Floyd Burchett, was born on August 25, 1964, in Knoxville, Tennessee. He attended West Hills Elementary School, Bearden Junior High School and Bearden High School, graduating from Bearden in 1982. Burchett then enrolled at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, where he earned a Bachelor of Science in education in 1988 and became a member of the Sigma Chi fraternity.
Career
Burchett won his first election to public office in 1994, taking a seat in the Tennessee House of Representatives for the 18th district, where he served two two-year terms from 1995 to 1998.
In 1998 he was elected to the Tennessee Senate from the 7th district, part of Knox County, and he served three four-year terms there from 1999 to 2010.
As a state legislator he sponsored a 1999 bill on the eating of roadkill and a 2006 bill banning the active ingredient in Salvia divinorum, which was signed into law on May 19, 2006.
Burchett became Knox County mayor in September 2010, succeeding Mike Ragsdale after defeating former sheriff Tim Hutchison in the Republican primary and Democrat Ezra Maize in the general election, and he ran unopposed in 2014.
After 30-year incumbent Jimmy Duncan announced his retirement in July 2017, Burchett won a seven-candidate Republican primary for Tennessee's 2nd congressional district and defeated Democrat Renee Hoyos in the 2018 general election with 65.9% of the vote.
He took office in January 2019, ending a 54-year hold on the district by the Duncan family, and was re-elected in 2020 with 67.6%. On October 3, 2023, he was one of eight Republicans who voted to remove Kevin McCarthy as Speaker of the House.
2026 race
Tim Burchett is seeking re-election in the 2nd district, which is located in eastern Tennessee and anchored by Knoxville. He was re-elected with 69.3% of the vote in 2024 and won the 2026 Republican primary with 100.0% of the vote. In the general election on November 3, 2026, he faces Democrat Michaela Barnett, a political organizer and small business owner who also won 100.0% of the vote in the Democratic primary.