Johnson marches uphill in bid to unseat Blackburn | Cover story

Few things united Tennessee as much as the Paris Olympics. In Nashville, two local superstars, sisters Alex and Gretchen Walsh, competed for medals in the pool, while Chattanooga's Olivia Reeves brought weightlifting gold to the United States for the first time in 24 years.

Instead of focusing on the winning athletes, incumbent Republican U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn paid thousands of dollars to introduce anti-trans activist Riley Gaines to voters. Gaines, a former University of Kentucky swimmer, came closer than ever to the international podium. She competed against (and lost to) hundreds of women during her college career, but has forged a new, lucrative career in the Republican culture wars by focusing on a single opponent: trans swimmer Lia Thomas which Gaines tied for fifth place at the 2002 2022 NCAA. Meter Freestyle Championships.

Advertisement buying for Blackburn began in July. Blackburn is currently completing her first term in the U.S. Senate – previously representing Tennessee's 7th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2003 to 2019 – and has an impressive fundraising record, raising more than $16 million as of October 1 were collected. She efficiently converted corporate PAC dollars into massive media buys in the late summer and early fall. Blackburn's preferred company, Washington-based Smart Media Group, has billed more than $2 million for the campaign since July. In her latest ad, Blackburn grins and blames China for various American ills while smashing plates printed with China's national flag.

Inciting Tennesseans against trans people, China and TikTok has become Blackburn's campaign strategy in her abbreviated re-election campaign. After rising from the state Senate to the U.S. House of Representatives to the U.S. Senate over the past 25 years, the divisive politician is seeking her second term as an up-and-coming Republican mudslinger and close ally of Trump.

“To my knowledge, we have not seen a single transgender woman in Tennessee try to play sports,” said state Rep. Gloria Johnson, the Knoxville Democrat who is challenging Blackburn. “Marsha Blackburn is speaking out about this because it distracts from the irreparable harm she is doing to the people of this country. It puts women at risk with a federal abortion ban. She doesn't believe in exceptions to abortion due to rape or incest and has no problem with forcing a 10-year-old girl to become pregnant. Or forcing a woman to carry her rapist’s baby.”

Blackburn didn't respond scene's interview request. She has consistently opposed legislation to expand access to abortion and received support from leading pro-life groups this election cycle.

Johnson's campaign, led by veteran organizer Cyrus Shick, aims to win on two fronts. Firstly, the absolute race in the voting, with Blackburn ahead by double figures. Second, by claiming core issues like health care affordability and economic mobility for Democrats in the 95 Tennessee counties where Johnson has campaigned for months.

“Tennessee families have been ignored for a long time,” Johnson said scene three weeks before election day. “Republicans in this state fight for corporations, lobbyists and the rich. Marsha Blackburn, a multimillionaire, considers $7.25 an hour to be an acceptable wage. She voted against a $35 cap on insulin. She refuses to negotiate drug prices for seniors. She voted multiple times to repeal the Affordable Care Act. These are things Tennesseans desperately need – we need someone in DC who understands how most Tennesseans live.”

As one of the so-called Tennessee Three, Johnson narrowly avoided expulsion after joining her Democratic colleagues Justin Jones and Justin Pearson in calling for gun reform in the House of Representatives. Now, on the campaign trail, Johnson says she sees a growing divide between the Republican leadership and ordinary people. In a recent ad she even advertises that she is a gun owner. In part, she says, the decision to run for statewide office was due to Johnson's desire to spread the Democrats' message to voters who have previously been difficult for the party to reach.

Johnson tells this scene She is gradually winning over dissatisfied Republicans across the state. Internal surveys, she says, showed her performance was single-digit worse. (A Beacon Center poll a few weeks before the election showed Blackburn ahead by 23 percentage points.) But practical constraints like time, money and the national media ecosystem are still closing the race for Johnson's campaign, which is based on field organizing and retail politics a tough fight.

The Republicans' lopsided lead in Tennessee has allowed Blackburn to avoid one topic in particular: the very existence of her opponent. A $5 million cash advantage, wealthy corporate donors, ties to incumbents, elevated party status and Tennessee's Trump streak give Blackburn tangible luxuries, such as chartering private planes with campaign funds. They also generate organic advertising and awareness for Blackburn, allowing it to avoid unfriendly spaces altogether. Blackburn's talent for bipartisan scorn earns her regular free media appearances on Fox News, beaming her directly into Tennessee living rooms. As Johnson crisscrosses the state shaking hands and meeting voters, Blackburn's campaign clearly sees running out of time as a winning strategy.

On October 20, Blackburn appeared with Gov. Bill Lee in Franklin at the 18th annual Boots & Jeans, BBQ & Beans event hosted by Republican Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson. For about seven minutes, she spoke at length about the fight for Tennesseans, the importance of lower taxes and building a wall on the southern border of the United States.

“We will have a great day on November 5th if we retain supermajorities in our state House of Representatives and Senate and win the U.S. Senate and the White House,” Blackburn told the cheering crowd. “We’re making sure we get this country back on the right track.”

Blackburn sat in for a friendly interview The Tennesseeis David Plaza's in 2020, but He reportedly rejected the newspaper's requests during this campaign cycle. Several news outlets including The Tennesseereport that her campaign has ignored or rejected requests for a debate with Johnson, underscoring the central story of this year's Senate race – the two candidates operate in different realities.

Correction: An earlier version of this article noted this The Tennessean interviewed Marsha Blackburn in September of this year. The interview took place in 2020. We apologize for the error.