U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) expressed confidence that she will secure the Republican nomination for Tennessee governor on Thursday, telling The Tennessee Star’s CEO and Editor-in-Chief Michael Patrick Leahy that she expects to claim victory on election night while continuing to campaign across the state until polls close.
On Thursday’s edition of The Michael Patrick Leahy Show, Blackburn said her campaign wrapped up an event Wednesday night in Mountain City before beginning Thursday morning in Memphis, with plans to end the day in Knoxville, where her election night celebration is scheduled.
“We are still out campaigning. We finished last night in Mountain City, and then we started this morning in Memphis, and we are working our way back across the state. We will be in Knoxville tonight,” Blackburn said. “But it is a very exciting day. I have to tell you, I just did this breakfast in Memphis, and we just had a great crowd, and everybody is excited.”
Blackburn added, “They’re excited for the opportunities for our state, and I think we’re going to have a big victory tonight. I am going to win, and I’m going to be a great governor for our state.”
Reflecting on the campaign, Blackburn noted that exactly one year earlier she launched her bid for governor.
“A year ago today, I kicked this campaign off. I said, ‘We’re going to build a great team,’ and we have indeed done that,” she said. “We’re going to win tonight, and now is the time for Republicans to unite and focus on beating the Democrats in November. We cannot let them get any kind of momentum in our state.”
Blackburn explained that her campaign chose Knoxville for its election night event after hearing from supporters in East Tennessee who wanted the opportunity to celebrate locally.
“We have such strong support all across the state, and what we kept hearing from many of our friends in Knoxville, friends and supporters, is, ‘Hey, we want the opportunity to celebrate, too,'” Blackburn said. “We decided, let’s just do election night in Knoxville for all of those Tennesseans in Upper East and East Tennessee.”
She also pointed to the Knox County mayoral race as another reason for gathering in Knoxville, saying supporters including U.S. Representative Tim Burchett (R-TN-02) and Knox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs would be attending.
“We are looking forward to giving East Tennesseans the opportunity to join us and to celebrate a historic victory tonight,” Blackburn said.
Discussing why she believes voters are responding to her campaign, Blackburn said her platform reflects issues Tennesseans have consistently raised during the race.
“Tennesseans have listened to our message. We have listened to Tennesseans as we built that message. We know we’ve got the right message,” she said.
Blackburn said voters have responded positively to her proposals on inflation, rising wages, public safety, illegal immigration, education, and her proposal to prohibit student cell phone use during the academic day.
“They like the fact that we’ve talked about public safety, and are focused on public safety, and treating criminals like criminals, and supporting law enforcement, deporting illegal aliens,” Blackburn said.
She added that educators have also embraced her school cell phone proposal.
“This morning, here in Memphis, I had several people, one of them being an educator, who came to me and said, ‘Thank goodness you are talking about no cell phones during the academic day.'”
Blackburn concluded that the consistency of that feedback across Tennessee gives her confidence in the outcome.
“We have heard this from one corner of the state to the other. This is why we’re going to win, is that people agree with our message. They know that our state needs a leader, and that leader is me.”
Looking ahead, Blackburn said her administration would continue emphasizing conservative policies if elected governor.
“We know that Tennesseans want to be known as a Christian conservative state, and we have proven that lower taxes, friendly business policies, pro-life policies, making certain there is a strong economy where everyone can benefit, and that is the way we’re going to govern,” she said.
Blackburn added, “You may not always agree with me, but you will know where I stand. I tell people where I am on this, that, or the other issue, and people appreciate that. They don’t have to guess.”
Polls close tonight at 8 p.m. EDT/7 p.m. CDT.
Tune in now to The Michael Patrick Leahy Show – your AMERICA FIRST news talk!
– Watch LIVE here on X
– Watch LIVE on YouTube / Rumble / Roku / AppleTV
– Listen on Spotify
– Listen on WENO AM760 in Nashville
– Read more at @TheTNStarhttps://t.co/mGNCpeaTwV— Michael Patrick Leahy (@michaelpleahy) August 6, 2026
– – –
Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network.
Photo “Marsha Blackburn” by Marsha Blackburn.
Anyone else tired of seeing her face and hearing her awful voice?