The Republican senator Marsha Blackburn announced on Wednesday she will run for governor of Tennessee.
A staunch ally of Donald Trump who represents a state he carried by nearly 30 percentage points, Blackburn would become the first female governor in Tennessee’s history if she wins next year. The vocal abortion foe supported Trump’s baseless claims of fraud during the 2020 election, and was considered one of the most conservative members of the House of Representatives during 16 years representing a district in middle Tennessee.
“Trump is back, America is blessed, and Tennessee: better than ever,” Blackburn said in her campaign launch video, which opens with a shot of a clapping Trump and features several images of them together. “I love Tennessee. I believe in Tennesseans, and 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.”
Echoing Trump’s rhetoric, she promised to “define our boys and girls the way God made them”, deport undocumented immigrants, “whether it takes planes, trains or starships”, and “deliver a world-class education for our children by empowering parents, not the deep state”.
A former state senator, she was elected to the House in 2002, then became Tennessee’s first female US senator in 2018. She championed legislation to strip all abortion providers of federal funding, and was among the Republican senators who announced they would vote to oppose the certification of Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 election, but changed her mind after the January 6 attack.
Blackburn was last year challenged for re-election by the Democratic state representative Gloria Johnson, who was one of the “Tennessee Three” protesters in the state house. The senator was elected to a second term with 64% of the vote.
If she wins the race for governor, Blackburn may be able to appoint a successor to her Senate seat. She faces Congressman John Rose in the Republican primary, though other candidates could emerge. Last week, NBC News reported the defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, was considering running for the office.
Axios reports that Trump’s pollster Tony Fabrizio believes Blackburn will be the “clear frontrunner” in the race, with 82% of GOP primary voters viewing her favorably.
