U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) is urging Tennesseans to cast their votes in the November 5 general election by taking advantage of early in-person voting.
Blackburn, who faces Tennessee State Representative Gloria Johnson (D-Knoxville) on the general election ballot, said she is hoping for a “big margin” in her race and for Tennesseans to vote for former President Donald Trump and local candidates.
“We are making certain that people get to the polls and people vote. We need their vote and President Trump also needs their vote. I tell people all the time that just because we are in a red state, don’t take it for granted,” Blackburn said on Wednesday’s edition of The Michael Patrick Leahy Show.
“Go cast your ballot because we want President Trump to win the popular vote. We want to make certain that we have a good margin in my race, in our congressional races, in our state house and state senate races. It is important to vote all the way to the bottom of the ballot,” Blackburn added.
In her race against Johnson, a new poll by the Nashville-based Beacon Center of Tennessee found Blackburn leading her Democratic opponent by 23 points (54 percent-31 percent).
Acknowledging the poll, Blackburn said she is taking “nothing for granted” and will continue to work towards getting out the vote efforts.
“We take absolutely nothing for granted. We are working hard everyday…People need to show up and they need to cast that ballot,” Blackburn said.
Regarding the presidential race between Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris, Blackburn said she was optimistic about Trump’s national support. She pointed to an event she attended with the former president in Michigan last month, which was attended by many United Auto Workers (UAW) workers.
“I was on the road with him and moderated an auto workers town hall in Michigan…About 5,000 people were there, and at one point I said, ‘Hey, raise your hand, wave your hat in the air if you’re an auto worker.’ And it was about half of the room. I could not believe it, and I think that people are expecting the UAW in Michigan to vote in lockstep for Kamala Harris. I don’t see it. I think a lot of these people are going to vote for President Trump,” Blackburn said.
Blackburn said she believes auto workers across the nation, including in Tennessee, realize the risk mass manufacturing electric vehicles brings to their careers, which is why the senator said many UAW workers will end up voting for Trump.
“We have awesome people that are in the auto industry. We have awesome members of the UAW down in Spring Hill here in Tennessee, and they get it. They know that building an electric car is going to take fewer workers than building a hybrid or a combustion engine, and they know what they are up against,” Blackburn said.
Early in-person voting for the November 5 general election in Tennessee is now available Monday through Saturday and runs through Thursday, October 31, with times varying by polling location.
Absentee mail-in ballots must be requested by Tuesday, October 29, and received by voters’ respective election commissions no later than the close of polls on Election Day.
Watch the full interview:
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
Photo “Marsha Blackburn” by Marsha Blackburn. Background Photo “Voting Booths” by Tim Evanson. CC BY-SA 2.0.
