Tennessee Sen. Marsha Blackburn launched her long-awaited campaign for governor Wednesday, becoming the second Republican from the state’s congressional delegation to enter the race to succeed term-limited GOP Gov. Bill Lee.
Blackburn, who hopes to become the Volunteer State’s first female governor, starts out as the front-runner after more than 20 years on Capitol Hill in both the House and Senate. She has tied herself closely to President Donald Trump, who won the deep-red state by 30 points last year.
“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 said in a statement. “I’m running to serve as Tennessee’s next governor to ensure Tennessee is America’s conservative leader.”
Awaiting Blackburn in the Republican primary, scheduled for next August, is Rep. John W. Rose, a fourth-term House member who launched his gubernatorial campaign in March.
The GOP nominee will be heavily favored to succeed Lee in a state that hasn’t elected a Democrat as governor in nearly 20 years. Memphis City Councilwoman Jerri Green announced her campaign for the Democratic nomination last month.
If elected, Blackburn would be able to pick her successor in the Senate, as her current term doesn’t end until 2031.
In her campaign launch video, Blackburn vowed to make Tennessee a top job creator and to empower parents’ role in their children’s education and to enforce the law by deporting people who are in the country illegally. She also said the state would “value life, and we’ll define our boys and girls the way God made them.”
“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 says in a video.
Blackburn first ran for Congress in 1992, losing to Democratic Rep. Bart Gordon. After a stint on Tennessee’s Film, Entertainment and Music Commission, she won a state Senate seat in 1998. In the legislature, she developed a reputation for her relentless and ultimately successful fight against a state income tax, which she parlayed into a winning campaign for the House in 2002.
She ran for Senate in 2018 after Republican Bob Corker announced his retirement. Blackburn drew a high-profile Democratic opponent in popular former Gov. Phil Bredesen but ended up defeating him by a comfortable 11 points.
She easily won a second term last year with a 30-point victory over Democratic state Rep. Gloria Johnson, who drew national attention for an anti-gun-violence protest with two of her colleagues on the state House floor.
In Congress, Blackburn has devoted much of her time to internet and data privacy issues. She currently chairs the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Subcommittee on Consumer Protection, Technology and Data Privacy, as well as the Judiciary Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology and the Law.
With her announcement Wednesday, Blackburn becomes the third senator seeking to leave the chamber for their state’s governor’s mansion in 2026. Republican Tommy Tuberville is running for governor of Alabama, while Sen. Michael Bennet is seeking the Democratic gubernatorial nomination in Colorado.
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