Marsha Blackburn Wins Tennessee State Senate Race
By Kara Aguilar
NASHVILLE, Tenn.- The anticipated “Blue Wave” did not reach Tennessee in Tuesday’s midterm elections. Conservative Republican Congresswoman Marsha Blackburn easily won her U.S. Senate race and will become Tennessee’s first female senator.
Republican Bill Lee won the state’s governor race against former Nashville Mayor Karl Dean to replace GOP Gov. Bill Haslam. Lee is the chairman of a mechanical contracting, facilities, and home service company and political newcomer who appealed to voters as a devout Christian and conservative businessman.
Polls indicated a tight race to replace retiring U.S. Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tennessee. Blackburn, an eight-term congresswoman, defeated her Democratic opponent, former Gov. Phil Bredesen, by 54.7 percent, solidifying the southern state as safe Republican territory and maintaining Republican control of the Senate.
President Donald Trump, who carried the state by 26 percentage points in 2016, praised Blackburn at a Chattanooga rally in October, urging the 12,000 audience members that “a vote for Marsha is a vote for me”.
Blackburn aligned her campaign with the President on core conservative issues including gun control, abortion and immigration. “I get up every day and I go fight for five things: faith, family, freedom, hope and opportunity,” Blackburn said during a debate with Bredesen.
Blackburn’s campaign and other outside organizations released a number of ads associating Bredesen with Washington Democrat rhetoric, targeting the nominee for his stance on single-payer healthcare, as well as his opposition to Trump’s plan to build a wall along the nation’s southern border.
The Tennessee Senate race caught the attention of media outlets across the country in October after 28-year-old pop singer Taylor Swift broke her political silence and announced her support for Bredesen on Instagram.
Within 24 hours following Swift’s endorsement, over 44,000 people between the ages of 18 and 24 nationwide registered to vote. Democrats were hopeful that the “Taylor Swift Effect” would motivate young Tennessee voters to swig the race and help the party regain control over the Senate.
The 2018 midterm election witnessed a record-breaking number of women running for political offices. Blackburn is one of at least 117 women that will serve in the House of Representatives and Senate.