1880 United States presidential election in Tennessee

The 1880 United States presidential election in Tennessee took place on November 2, 1880, with voters selecting 12 electors for the Electoral College. Post-Civil War, Tennessee's political landscape was deeply divided, with East Tennessee and parts of West Tennessee predominantly supporting Republicans due to their Unionist sympathies, viewing Democrats as the "war party." Conversely, Middle and West Tennessee, which had supported secession, remained strongly Democratic, associating Republicans with Reconstruction.

In 1868, Ulysses S. Grant won Tennessee easily due to voter disenfranchisement of former Confederates and the Ku Klux Klan Act. However, white Democrats subsequently regained power by rewriting the state constitution with the help of the resurgent KKK. Despite this, blacks and Unionist whites maintained Republican support, keeping the party competitive during the 1870s while Democrats won all statewide elections.

In the early 1880s, a Democratic Party split over debt payment allowed Republicans to win the governor's seat. Nevertheless, in the 1880 presidential election, Democratic candidate Winfield Scott Hancock defeated Republican James A. Garfield, securing 53.26% of the popular vote compared to Garfield's 44.26%. This marked the last time a Democratic presidential candidate carried Macon County until Bill Clinton in 1992.