A candidate controversy has led to the Tennessee Democratic Party disavowing the nomination of Mark Clayton to challenge Republican US senator Bob Corker just one day after the election.

The Democratic Party says the little-known candidate belongs to a hate group.

Clayton received twice the votes of his nearest competitor.

The party says he is vice president of Public Advocate Of The U.S., which calls itself a conservative advocacy group. The Southern Poverty Law Center calls the organization an anti-gay hate group.

Clayton said in a pre-election interview that privacy issues are his main concern, and that he thinks people are being "over-identified by the government and tracked."