Blackburn announces bid for Tennessee governor

(CN) — Senator Marsha Blackburn, a staunch supporter of President Donald Trump and the first woman elected to the Senate from Tennessee in 2019, confirmed Wednesday her intent to run for governor.

Blackburn, a former Tennessee state legislator, represented the state’s 7th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2003 to 2018 and was a founding member of the House Freedom Caucus. A prominent figure in the Republican Party, known for her sharp conservative rhetoric and strong social media presence, she’s a regular on right-wing media.

At the 2024 Republican National Convention, she praised Trump’s economic agenda, including tax cuts and reduced spending, and has consistently opposed progressive policies on environmental regulations, abortion, LGBTQ rights and universal health care.

“In his first six months, President Trump has made historic strides in Making America Great Again, but as he sends power back to the states, he’s going to need strong conservative governors who can bring that revolution home,” Blackburn stated in a news release. “I’m running to serve as Tennessee’s next governor to ensure Tennessee is America’s conservative leader.”

In a corresponding campaign video released Wednesday, Blackburn said Tennessee was poised to capitalize on Trump’s policies by adding jobs, improving schools and enforcing immigration laws.

“I love Tennessee, I believe in Tennesseans and I’m ready to deliver the kind of conservative leadership that will ensure our state is America’s conservative leader for this generation and the next,” she said.

Reelected to a second six-year term in the Senate just last year, Blackburn will not have to vacate the seat unless she is elected governor.

Blackburn will face a challenge in the Republican primary from U.S. Representative John Rose, who launched his campaign in March. Rose has reportedly raised over $1 million and loaned $5 million of his own money to the race. A representative for Rose did not return a request for comment Wednesday.

Both candidates are vying to replace Governor Bill Lee, whose term-limited office he won re-election to in 2022 with nearly 65% of the statewide vote. Tennessee’s legislature is dominated by a Republican supermajority.

Kent Syler, a professor of political science and public policy at Middle Tennessee State University, said in a phone conversation Wednesday that the Republican Party has found a winning formula in Tennessee.

“There’s a Republican formula for winning office in Tennessee that just keeps working, and that is, go as far as you can to the right in the primary,” Syler said. “So if the race develops, it will be kind of a referendum on who’s the most conservative.”

Syler said Blackburn is a serious contender, adding she was a “conservative before it was cool.”

“She has not changed her philosophy one bit from her entire political career,” Syler concluded. “Interestingly, Tennessee has moved toward her politics.”

At Vanderbilt University, Distinguished Professor of Political Science John G. Geer agreed, but noted partisan gerrymandering — which is separately playing out in Texas this week — is largely responsible for the state’s hard right turn in recent years.

“Districts are drawn to stack the deck for Republicans, creating few competitive districts,” Geer said by phone Wednesday. “That means that they tend to take more extreme positions to placate those who turn out in the primaries.”

Geer noted that both Lee and Governor Bill Haslam have been popular governors and effective in advancing policy. He called Blackburn a “very formidable candidate, very likely to win,” and said a victory would give her the power to shape Tennessee’s political agenda.

“She talked about in her opening message today that she wants to ensure that Tennessee has conservative leadership driving the state, and that’s going to resonate with lots of Tennesseans, but then she needs to kind of unpack that and sketch out exactly what she has as planned,” he said.

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