Senator Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee announced on Wednesday that she would run for governor, less than a year after winning another term in the Senate.
Ms. Blackburn, a loyal ally of President Trump and a hard-line conservative Republican, joins a cluster of other lawmakers, including Senators Tommy Tuberville of Alabama and Michael Bennet of Colorado, who have chosen recently to run for office in their home states rather than remain in Washington.
Should she win the election, Ms. Blackburn will notch another political first for Tennessee: After becoming the state’s first female senator, she would be its first female governor.
“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,” she said in a video posted early on Wednesday to launch her campaign.
She leans heavily on her alliance with Mr. Trump in her opening campaign ad and fund-raising pitches. The video is sprinkled with images of Ms. Blackburn alongside Mr. Trump over the years.
The incumbent Republican governor, Bill Lee, is term-limited and unable to run again.
Ms. Blackburn will face at least one other conservative candidate in the race: Representative John Rose, whose congressional district slices into parts of Nashville and includes some rural counties.
Even so, she has been widely seen as an overwhelming favorite to win the Republican nomination, and she received some endorsements before she formally entered the race. In February, Glenn Jacobs, the mayor of Knox County, published an opinion piece preemptively supporting her candidacy.
Ms. Blackburn has a record of opposing government spending and has been a heavy critic of China’s global influence. In the final weeks of her Senate campaign last fall, she released an ad that showed her shattering plates emblazoned with the Chinese flag.
She has also taken conservative stances on social issues including abortion, and led a push in Congress against allowing transgender people to participate in sports that align with their gender identities. She highlighted both of those positions in her opening campaign.
The Republican primary is scheduled for Aug. 6, 2026 — exactly a year away.
Emily Cochrane is a national reporter for The Times covering the American South, based in Nashville.
The post Senator Marsha Blackburn Will Run for Governor of Tennessee appeared first on New York Times.
