The U.S. Senate race for Tennessee

NASHVILLE, Tenn.–Incumbent U.S. Senator for Tennessee Marsha Blackburn will face State Representative Gloria Johnson for Blackburn's seat.

MARSHA BLACKBURN REPUBLICAN

Blackburn won six years ago by beating former Democratic Gov. Phil Bredesen by nearly 11 percentage points, toppling a popular moderate candidate who had hoped to appeal to some Republican voters and who ultimately even won Brett Kavanaugh's controversial nomination for colonel Court supported court. Tennessee has only voted for statewide GOP candidates for nearly two decades, choosing candidates who are further to the right and close to Trump, rather than the conservative dealmakers of the past.

Blackburn is again touting support for Trump, who defeated President Joe Biden by 23 percentage points in Tennessee in 2020. She helped craft the GOP's policy platform for Trump this year and praised his candidacy in her speech at the Republican National Convention. In one of her first television ads, she emphasized her opposition to transgender athletes in women's sports, which is now part of this GOP platform.

“In the U.S. Senate, I will continue to advocate for conservative, America First policies by working to cut taxes, secure the border, support our veterans, hold Big Tech accountable and deliver “That our opponents fear us again,” she said in a statement on Thursday. “This November, Republicans must unite to take control of the U.S. Senate, retain the House of Representatives and elect President Donald Trump to the White House.”

GLORIA JOHNSON-DEMOCRATIC

Johnson won her Democratic Senate primary after an act of defiance against the Republican supermajority thrust her into the spotlight last year, days after a school shooting that killed three children and three adults. At that time, she joined Democratic Reps. Justin Pearson and Justin Jones as they walked to the front of the House with a megaphone. They joined chants and calls from protesters in the public stands and outside the chamber for gun control legislation.

The trio were quickly dubbed the “Tennessee Three” when they faced expulsion hearings for violating house rules. Pearson and Jones, who are both Black, were excluded, while Johnson, who is white, was spared one vote. Shortly after the exclusion vote, Johnson was quick to note that she likely avoided exclusion because she was white. Republicans denied that race was a factor and pointed out that her defense argued that her role was lesser, such as her not using the megaphone.

Johnson, 62, has been a critic of Blackburn's policy positions, arguing that most Tennesseans want “sensible gun legislation” and better access to reproductive care. Given Tennessee's strict abortion ban, she testified about the abortion she had at age 21 for an aortic aneurysm that likely would have killed her if she had done nothing but may have harmed the baby if Johnson had received the treatment , which she needed to save her own life.