Election Day 2018: Nashville approves Community Oversight Board, other amendments

Updated at 10:50 p.m.

Democratic candidate Bob Freeman won the seat for State House District 56, a district that includes Green Hills, Belle Meade, Oak Hill and parts of South Nashville.

Freeman defeated Republican nominee Brent Moody by securing 51 percent of the vote — a margin of just more than 1,000 votes. Freeman will succeed Speaker Beth Harwell, who represented the district for 30 years before a run for governor this year.

Updated at 9:55 p.m.

Here's what we know about the six amendments on the ballot in Davidson County:

Amendment 1 — a community oversight board — passed in Davidson County. 

The oversight board will have independent power to investigate misconduct allegations against Metropolitan Nashville Police Department officers.

As of 9:45 p.m., the amendment is favored by a margin of 58 to 42 percent, which is 128,307 over 91,166 votes.

Amendments 2, 3, 4 and 6 also appear to have passed. The only amendment to likely fail is Amendment 5, which would have extended the number of term limits council members are allowed to serve from the current two-term limit to three. The measure was also voted down in 2015.

The other amendments to pass include updating the Metro Charter to have gender-neutral pronouns, requiring the incoming mayor, vice mayor and members of Metro Council to take an oath to uphold the city's charter and more.

Updated at 9 p.m.

Republican candidate Marsha Blackburn has secured victory over Phil Bredesen in the race for U.S. Senator.

Blackburn, currently a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, is the first woman from Tennessee elected to the U.S. Senate.

According to reports from Bredesen's election party, the Democratic candidate conceded shortly after 9 p.m.

Here's what's happening at Blackburn and Bredesen's viewing parties:

@PhilBredesen is speaking now and thanking his supporters for their support and vote. He lost the U.S Senate race to @MarshaBlackburn. @WAAYTV pic.twitter.com/7rXClkjAqj

— Brittany Collins (@brittanyWAAY31) November 7, 2018

Rep. @MarshaBlackburn thanks voters in a victory speech on #ElectionNight after being elected as Tennessee’s first woman senator, beating out former Gov. Phil Bredesen.

“And just imagine this, it is a conservative woman to boot” #tictocnews pic.twitter.com/kv7p3ic2eo

— TicToc by Bloomberg (@tictoc) November 7, 2018

Phil Bredesen concedes race to Marsha Blackburn. First words out of his mouth “I applied for this job and got a rejection letter.” Says he called Blackburn to concede but she was on stage giving her speech pic.twitter.com/uBaAusPofz

— Marc Sallinger (@MarcWBIR) November 7, 2018

Updated at 8 p.m.

According to The Associated Press, Bill Lee is the next governor of Tennessee.

As of 8 p.m., more than 500,000 votes have been counted across the state.  Results show the Franklin businessman at 67 percent, while Democratic candidate Karl Dean is at 32 percent.

Dean conceded around 8:45 p.m. See what people are saying about the race below, including photos and clips from Lee's victory speech and Dean's concession speech:

"I'm humbled. I'm honored, and I couldn't be more grateful," Bill Lee says at the start of his victory speech. https://t.co/wHWuG95mFT pic.twitter.com/IlPFry9vxg

— FoxNashville (@FOXNashville) November 7, 2018

Karl Dean says he will support Bill Lee as governor, “and we all need to do so.” pic.twitter.com/Gs33kHqSx8

— Grant Ford Robinson (@Grant_Robinson_) November 7, 2018

Original story

With polling locations now closed in Tennessee, early voting totals are coming in across the state for U.S. Senate, House races, governor and more.

As of 7:30 p.m., only a few counties have reported early voting numbers. Early voting numbers have not been released for Davidson County.

More than 1.3 million Tennesseans, including 162,256 Davidson County residents, voted early for the Nov. 6 midterm election.

Learn more about each race below and check back during our live coverage to see the updated and final results.

Tennessee Senate Race — Marsha Blackburn and Phil Bredesen

Tennessee's U.S. Senate race is between Republican Marsha Blackburn and Democrat Phil Bredesen. The race has gained national attention with both candidates vying to replace retiring U.S. Sen. Bob Corker.

Governor Race — Karl Deal and Bill Lee

In the race for Tennessee’s governor, Democrat Karl Dean and Republican Bill Lee are facing off to succeed Gov. Bill Haslam’s full eight years in office.

U.S. 5th Congressional District

Republican Jody M. Ball will challenge Democratic incumbent Jim Cooper to represent Tennessee's 5th Congressional District. Ball was up against Glen Dean on the primary ballot. The 5th Congressional District includes all of Davidson County and Dickson County, as well as part of Cheatham County.

Amendments

In Davidson County, there are six amendments on the ballot this election. Nashville voters will make the final call on items like extending term-limits for council members (a measure that has been voted down before, most recently in 2015), updating the city’s charter to include gender-neutral references and more.

Metro Council voted to add five of the six amendments, while the Davidson County Election Commission included Amendment 1—a community oversight board—after the proposal received thousands of signatures.