Blackburn, Bredesen advance
Tennessee primaries settled, focus turns to November
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Former Tennessee Democratic Gov. Phil Bredesen and Republican U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn have been running their campaigns for a critical U.S. Senate seat like their matchup was assured.
Voters made it official Thursday. Bredesen and Blackburn disposed of minimal opposition in their primary elections, kicking off what’s expected to a bruising, expensive fight that could determine Democrats’ chances of overturning the 51-49 Republican Senate majority.
Polls have indicated a close contest to replace retiring Republican Sen. Bob Corker.
A general election win would be historic for Blackburn, who would become the first female U.S. senator ever elected in Tennessee.
Voters faced a more competitive field in the race for the nomination to replace term-limited Republican Gov. Bill Haslam.
Former Nashville Mayor Karl Dean won the Democratic primary, defeating state House Minority Leader Craig Fitzhugh after outspending him $4.4 million to $984,800.
Businessman Bill Lee won a bruising GOP primary. He mostly stayed out of the fray while the other three leading contenders savaged each other in attack ads.
Bredesen, who remains popular, is pledging to work across party lines, saying he will support Trump on policies that are good for the state, and oppose him when they aren’t.
He thanked his supporters Thursday night and vowed to be “the best damn senator you ever sent up to Washington.”
Blackburn is a strong Trump backer in a state that voted for the president by 26 percentage points in 2016. She has run in support of Trump’s agenda, including his wall-building immigration crackdown and his U.S. Supreme Court pick, Brett Kavanaugh.
“We know what Tennesseans say that they want to see in their next senator is somebody who is going to stand with President Trump to finish the agenda that they voted for when they elected him and sent him to Washington,” she told her supporters, some of whom were wearing T-shirts emblazoned “Marsha Marsha Marsha.”
Bredesen was the last Democrat to win statewide in Tennessee, where he clinched all 95 counties in his 2006 re-election as governor. He would again need to peel off support from moderate Republicans and independents in the red state. For Tennessee Democrats, it’s been an even longer drought in the Senate. The last to win was former Vice President Al Gore in 1990.
Blackburn has billed herself as a “hardcore, card-carrying Tennessee conservative” from the outset of her campaign. She has benefited from center-stage appearances alongside Trump and Vice President Mike Pence in public events and fundraisers in Tennessee.