U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn has won Tennessee’s Republican primary for governor, defeating U.S. Representative John Rose in a contest between two of President Donald Trump’s closest allies. The result positions Blackburn as the heavy favorite to succeed term limited Governor Bill Lee in November. The Associated Press projected Blackburn’s victory on Thursday, with the 74 year old senator maintaining a comfortable double digit lead over Rose throughout the race, according to polling.
The Democratic nomination went to Memphis City Councilor Jerri Green, but Tennessee remains one of the country’s most strongly Republican states. Donald Trump won the state by nearly 30% in 2024, making a Republican victory in the governor’s race highly likely. Blackburn, who spent 16 years in the U.S. House before entering the Senate in 2019, launched her gubernatorial campaign shortly after winning re election to the Senate in 2024. Her decision created a competitive primary against Rose, 61, who also sought Trump’s endorsement.
The contest became one of the most closely watched state level races of the 2026 election cycle. Both candidates emphasized their loyalty to the Trump agenda while competing for support in a state where the former president continues to wield considerable influence within the Republican Party. Blackburn’s statewide profile and fundraising advantage ultimately helped her secure the nomination.
Tennessee Redistricting Adds Another Major Election Battle
The Tennessee primary also featured the first U.S. House contest since Republicans redrew the state’s congressional map during a special legislative session called by Governor Lee in May. The new map dismantled the majority Black Memphis district represented by Democrat Steve Cohen and divided Memphis and Shelby County among the 5th, 8th and 9th congressional districts.
The redistricting followed the Supreme Court’s April 29 ruling in Louisiana v. Callais, which struck down a key provision of the Voting Rights Act requiring certain states with histories of racial discrimination to draw majority minority districts. Under Tennessee’s new map, the 9th District was significantly altered even though about 60% of voters in the previous district were Black.
Cohen chose not to seek re election in the redrawn district, which independent political analysts now consider safely Republican. In the Democratic primary for the new 9th District, state Representative Justin Pearson won the nomination. Pearson gained national attention in 2023 after he and fellow Democratic state Representative Justin Jones were expelled from the Tennessee House following their participation in a gun control protest on the House floor after the Nashville school shooting. Both lawmakers were subsequently reinstated by local officials and won special elections to return to their seats.
Pearson, who received endorsements from Senator Bernie Sanders and more than a dozen progressive members of Congress, will face Republican State Senator Brent Taylor in November. Taylor, who was endorsed by Trump, won a four way Republican primary in the newly drawn district.
The Tennessee primary results highlight the continued strength of Trump aligned politics in the Deep South while also demonstrating the importance of redistricting in the 2026 elections. Blackburn’s victory was widely expected because of her statewide recognition and financial advantage, and it removes a sitting senator from Washington while setting up a gubernatorial contest in which Democrats face steep political obstacles.
The redrawing of Memphis’s congressional districts is also part of a broader national fight over electoral maps. Tennessee is among several states where lawmakers have pursued mid decade redistricting, potentially reshaping congressional competition before the November elections. For Pearson, the race against Taylor will test whether his grassroots support and national profile can overcome the structural advantage created by a district designed to favor Republicans.
With the 2026 midterms increasingly viewed as a referendum on Trump’s second term and control of Congress at stake, the Tennessee primary provides an early indication of the political environment heading into November. Blackburn’s victory strengthens the Republican Party’s position in the governor’s race, while the new Memphis district offers Democrats a difficult but closely watched test of their ability to compete under Tennessee’s revised congressional map.
