Voters will choose their candidates for the November election in Tennessee’s Aug. 6 primary election.
With Gov. Bill Lee term-limited, two U.S. House seats open in a congressional district map that was overhauled earlier this year, and an unusually high number of state legislators retiring, this election promises a high amount of turnover and a handful of hard-fought races.
Tennessee has open primaries, meaning voters do not register with a political party and may choose either a Republican or Democratic primary ballot when they vote, but not both.
Here are some of the races you need to know.
GOP governor’s race primary
Sen. Masha Blackburn has been the frontrunner in the race to be the Republican candidate for governor since even before she announced her run a year ago.
Saying
that she is running to lead Tennessee "through a reset" and make the state “America’s conservative leader for this generation and the next,” Blackburn’s campaign has focused on national issues, like immigration and China, and on reshaping the future of Tennessee.
A 34-year political veteran, Blackburn would be the first woman and oldest person elected as Tennessee’s governor.
John Rose, a former businessman who has served as the U.S. representative for Tennessee's 6th Congressional District since 2019, has steadily gained on Blackburn’s lead, according to recent polls.
Rose is running on preserving and continuing the work of Tennessee governors before him. His campaign priorities have focused on addressing Tennessee’s road infrastructure crisis, improving education, expanding rural health care access and bolstering nuclear energy production.
After two terms as state representative for Tennessee’s 32nd District, Monty Fritts is running as a long-shot constitutional hardliner. Fritts has been an outspoken critic of the state’s 59% budget growth over the last six years and has pledged to end school voucher programs.
Democratic governor's race primary
Memphis City Councilwoman Jerri Green is the Democratic frontrunner in the primary for governor. A mother of three, she has prioritized expanding health care options and funding for public education.
Carnita Atwater, another Memphis resident who unsuccessfully ran for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination in 2022 and for Memphis mayor in 2023, is also on the ballot. Atwater has run on government accountability and public education.
Tim Cyr, Adam "Ditch" Kurtz and Kevin Lee McCants are also on the Aug. 6 Democratic ticket.
Whoever wins the Democratic nomination will be a major underdog in the November elections.
U.S. House District 4
Despite Tennessee’s 4th Congressional District shifting about 20 points to the left after Republicans redrew district lines in May, political analysts still consider it “solid Republican.”
Nonetheless, Rep. Scott DesJarlais will face one of his most well-funded and well-connected challengers since he was first elected in 2011.
His main opponent, Democratic Metro Nashville Council member Mike Cortese, has focused on affordability and representation. His campaign is still a long shot.
There are 11 total candidates on the ballot in Tennessee’s 4th District: four Republicans, five Democrats and two independents.
U.S. House District 5
Tennessee’s 5th District is another district recently reshaped by new Republican maps. Rep. Andy Ogles has held the office since January 2023. His GOP primary challenger is former Tennessee Agriculture Commissioner Charlie Hatcher, a fifth-generation dairy farmer, veterinarian and businessman.
The winner of the GOP primary will likely face off against Columbia Mayor Chaz Molder, who’s supported by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.
Whoever wins in November will have to represent a diverse district that includes a range of urban and agricultural needs from Franklin and Clarksville, to downtown Memphis, and across 14 other rural counties in the northwest corner of the state.
U.S. House District 6
The 6th Congressional District seat is open after it was vacated by governor hopeful John Rose.
In the GOP primary, Tennessee House Republican Whip Johnny Garrett, who has framed himself as a solidly MAGA candidate, will square off against former U.S. Rep. Van Hilleary, who represented Tennessee’s 4th District from 1994 to 2002 and has framed himself as a “proven fighter.”
A longtime safe Republican district, no Democrat had raised more than $100,000 as of March 31 filings.
U.S. House District 7
The 7th Congressional District race is shaping up to be a rehashing of the special election that took place nine months ago after the resignation of Mark Green.
Nashville businessman Darden Copeland and state Rep. Vincent Dixie will face off again in the Democratic primary. The Republican incumbent is Matt Van Epps. Since these three candidates last ran, Tennessee's Republican-controlled state legislature redrew the 7th Congressional District, raising the Republican baseline in District 7 from R+18 to R+20, according to nonpartisan analysis by Inside Elections.
The district still includes swaths of Nashville and Clarksville, both Democratic strongholds, making a flip unlikely but not impossible.
U.S. House District 9
Historically a Democratic stronghold, the 9th Congressional District was redrawn in May to favor Republicans. Analysts say that a flip is likely.
With incumbent Steve Cohen retiring, four state lawmakers are vying for the seat, which now includes 15 counties, stretching south from Williamson and Rutherford counties to the Alabama border, and westward to the Memphis International Airport.
In the Democratic primary, state Sen. London Lamar, a strong advocate for gun safety policies and policies to make life more affordable for working families, faces state Rep. Justin Pearson, who rose to national fame after being expelled from the state House for a gun control protest.
On the Republican ballot, state Sen. Brent Taylor, originally a funeral director who has framed himself as a staunch Trump supporter, faces state Rep. Todd Warner, a Middle Tennessee soybean farmer who has been a regular critic of the state’s Republican establishment.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Key state and federal races in Middle Tennessee's primary election
