Mississippi native Marsha Blackburn has clinched the Republican ticket for Tennessee’s governor.
Blackburn, a sitting U.S. senator, ousted primary challengers U.S. Rep. John Rose and Tennessee State Rep. Monty Fritts on Thursday. She will face Democratic challenger Jerri Green, a Memphis city council woman, in the Nov. 3 general election. It’s the first time in Tennessee history that either major political party has nominated a female candidate for governor.
While Blackburn does not hail from Tennessee, she has spent more than five decades in the Volunteer State. Blackburn was born in Laurel. She graduated from Northeast Jones High School and spent her college years at Mississippi State University on a 4-H scholarship.
Blackburn’s political journey began with her serving as a state senator in Tennessee from 1999-2003. She then sought and secured a federal post, being elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, where she represented Tennessee’s 7th District from 2003-19. She won her current U.S. Senate seat in 2018 and was reelected in 2024. She is the first female U.S. senator in Tennessee.
What a night. Thank you, Tennessee. pic.twitter.com/Vdy4dDD68A
— Marsha Blackburn (@VoteMarsha) August 7, 2026
If she were to win the governor’s election, Blackburn’s senate seat would be vacated and outgoing Tennessee Republican Gov. Bill Lee would have to appoint an interim placeholder until a special election could be held to determine who would carry out the remainder of the her term. Blackburn, at 74 years old, would also be the oldest governor in Tennessee’s history.
Policy-wise, the Republican, who faced criticism in GOP circles for refusing to debate her opponents, said her priorities would be promoting economic growth in Tennessee, keeping transgender athletes out of girls’ sports, combatting illegal immigration, and making local communities safer, among other agendas.
Blackburn was notably not endorsed by President Donald Trump on the campaign trail, but the president congratulated her on her victory in the GOP primary.
“Congratulations to our Great Senator from Tennessee, Marsha Blackburn, who had a tremendous WIN for Governor last night, against a very strong and talented opponent, John Rose. Marsha now must go on to the next step, where she is running against a Radical Left Dumocrat (sic) who does not represent the Values of Tennessee, a State which I won all three times, in Historic Numbers,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
“Marsha will decisively win, and Tennessee, under her leadership, will go on to set Records in every category. I know Marsha well, and she has my Complete and Total Endorsement to be the next Governor of the Great State of Tennessee,” the president continued.
