Senator Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee won the Republican nomination for governor of the state on Thursday, The Associated Press said, clearing the way for her likely election in November to be the G.O.P.-led state’s first female governor.
Ms. Blackburn, 74, jumped into the race to replace Gov. Bill Lee, who is term-limited, shortly after she won re-election to the Senate in 2024. While President Trump choose to stay out of the primary, Ms. Blackburn positioned herself as a front-runner with a series of prominent Tennessee endorsements and high fund-raising.
Ms. Blackburn dodged debates with her two primary opponents and faced some criticism for holding limited public events and at times refusing to answer questions from reporters. But she easily beat her rivals, U.S. Representative John Rose and State Representative Monty Fritts.
Ms. Blackburn, the first woman to represent Tennessee in the Senate, has built a reputation as a reliable Trump ally and hard-line conservative. She has taken an aggressive stance against social media companies and China; in a recent campaign ad, she smashed fortune cookies.
As governor, she has vowed to preserve Tennessee’s conservative slant: cracking down on undocumented immigration and crime, remaining in lock step with Mr. Trump’s agenda and keeping taxes and regulations low.
She will face Jerri Green, a Democratic Memphis city councilwoman, in November.
Tennessee voters were also choosing their nominees under new district lines after the Supreme Court’s weakening of the Voting Rights Act had led Republicans to redraw the congressional map. Republicans are hoping to flip what had been the state’s lone Democratic-held seat, previously centered around Memphis.
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