{"id":31141,"date":"2026-08-07T13:59:34","date_gmt":"2026-08-07T08:59:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=31141"},"modified":"2026-08-07T13:59:34","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T08:59:34","slug":"sen-marsha-blackburn-wins-the-republican-primary-for-governor-of-tennessee","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=31141","title":{"rendered":"Sen. Marsha Blackburn wins the Republican primary for governor of Tennessee"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p id=\"anchor-0da9ac\" class=\"body-graf\">Sen. Marsha Blackburn has won the Republican nomination for governor of Tennessee, NBC News projects, defeating Rep. John Rose in a race in which President Donald Trump declined to endorse.<\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-2b429c\" class=\"body-graf\">Blackburn, 74, became the first woman to represent Tennessee in the Senate after she won her current seat in 2018; she had served in the House since 2003. If she wins the governor\u2019s race, she would be the first female governor.<\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-49d3c4\" class=\"body-graf\">She will be a heavy favorite in the general election in the red state to succeed term-limited Republican Gov. Bill Lee. Jerri Green, a member of the Memphis City Council, won the Democratic nomination.<\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-48df7f\" class=\"body-graf\">Blackburn is considered one of the most conservative members of the Senate, known for her stances on abortion and transgender rights and her criticism of China\u2019s influence. <\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-9325bb\" class=\"body-graf\">While Trump stayed out of the race, Blackburn and Rose both leaned on his name.<\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-50f70d\" class=\"body-graf\">The Tennessee Freedom Fund, a pro-Blackburn outside group, has spent heavily to tie her to Trump, airing advertisements featuring clips of Trump referring to her as \u201can incredible person\u201d and saying: \u201cFantastic job you did. We\u2019re proud of you.\u201d  <\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-dfdb6b\" class=\"body-graf\">At a rally in Washington in January, Trump praised Blackburn, saying, \u201cUnfortunately, she\u2019s running for governor,\u201d and adding: \u201cI\u2019d love her not to. I begged her: \u2018I said, \u2018Marsha, don\u2019t. We don\u2019t want to lose you in the Senate.\u2019\u201d <\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-c83800\" class=\"body-graf\">But <a href=\"https:\/\/nashvillebanner.com\/2026\/06\/08\/donald-trump-marsha-blackburn-john-rose-endorsement\/\" target=\"_blank\">the Nashville Banner reported<\/a> that Trump told members of Tennessee\u2019s congressional delegation on a flight to Memphis on Air Force One that he would not endorse Blackburn because of his relationship with Rose, according to two members of Congress who were present for the conversation. Rose, who represents Tennessee\u2019s 6th District, is a former state agriculture commissioner who also positioned himself as a loyal Trump ally.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"styles_inlineImage__FvnTh styles_medium__MEKii\" id=\"anchor-63b697\"><picture class=\"styles_image__i32F7\" data-testid=\"picture\" data-flavor=\"fit\" data-original-height=\"1559\" data-original-width=\"2338\"><source media=\"(min-width: 1000px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/media-cldnry.s-nbcnews.com\/image\/upload\/t_fit-560w,f_avif,q_auto:eco,dpr_2\/rockcms\/2026-08\/260806-john-rose-ew-101p-f48034.jpg 2x, https:\/\/media-cldnry.s-nbcnews.com\/image\/upload\/t_fit-560w,f_auto,q_auto:best\/rockcms\/2026-08\/260806-john-rose-ew-101p-f48034.jpg 1x\"\/><source media=\"(min-width: 320px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/media-cldnry.s-nbcnews.com\/image\/upload\/t_fit-760w,f_avif,q_auto:eco,dpr_2\/rockcms\/2026-08\/260806-john-rose-ew-101p-f48034.jpg 2x, https:\/\/media-cldnry.s-nbcnews.com\/image\/upload\/t_fit-760w,f_auto,q_auto:best\/rockcms\/2026-08\/260806-john-rose-ew-101p-f48034.jpg 1x\"\/><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/media-cldnry.s-nbcnews.com\/image\/upload\/t_fit-760w,f_auto,q_auto:best\/rockcms\/2026-08\/260806-john-rose-ew-101p-f48034.jpg\" alt=\"Rep. John Rose\" height=\"1559\" width=\"2338\"\/><\/picture><figcaption class=\"caption styles_caption__TCewG\" data-testid=\"caption\"><span class=\"caption__container\" data-testid=\"caption__container\">Rep. John Rose, R-Tenn., arrives for a House Republican Conference meeting in the Capitol on in 2024.<\/span><span class=\"caption__source\" data-testid=\"caption__source\">Bill Clark \/ CQ-Roll Call via Getty Images file<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p id=\"anchor-837d02\" class=\"body-graf\">It makes the race a rare Republican contest in which Trump has stayed on the sidelines. Trump has even double-endorsed GOP candidates in past races, like in South Carolina, where he added an endorsement of state Attorney General Alan Wilson to his backing of Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette ahead of a runoff Wilson won.<\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-9ddae3\" class=\"body-graf\">Rose spent almost $13 million self-funding his gubernatorial bid.<\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-73328f\" class=\"body-graf\">Blackburn is part of an unusually large group of senators running for governor in this election cycle. <\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-ea1dd3\" class=\"endmark body-graf\">GOP Sen. Tommy Tuberville won his party\u2019s gubernatorial nomination in Alabama this year, while Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet lost his primary in Colorado. Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar will be on the ballot for governor in Minnesota next week.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Sen. Marsha Blackburn has won the Republican nomination for governor of Tennessee, NBC News projects, defeating Rep. John Rose in a race in which President Donald Trump declined to endorse. Blackburn, 74, became the first woman to represent Tennessee in the Senate after she won her current seat in 2018; she had served in the&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":31142,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/media-cldnry.s-nbcnews.com\/image\/upload\/t_nbcnews-fp-1200-630,f_auto,q_auto:best\/rockcms\/2026-08\/260806-marsha-blackburn-ew-1241p-d0016c.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31141","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pics-news"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31141","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=31141"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31141\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/31142"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=31141"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=31141"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=31141"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}