Bob Corker Announces His Support for Marsha Blackburn’s U.S. Senate Bid

Though he did not use the formal term “endorsement,” Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN) announced his support for Rep. Marsha Blackburn’s (R-TN-07) bid to replace him in the United States Senate on Monday.

Corker sent this tweet out late Monday afternoon:

 

Now that the Republican primary has essentially concluded, I am sending a contribution to Representative Marsha Blackburn’s campaign and wish her well in her race for the U.S. Senate.

— Bob Corker (@BobCorker) April 9, 2018

Blackburn became the presumptive Republican nominee on Saturday with the Tennessee Republican Party removed two potential challengers–Dr. Rolando Toyos and Darrell Lynn– from the August 2 primary ballot because they failed to meet the requirements established by the party to be a candidate for statewide office.

As The Tennessee Star reported:

The GOP State Executive Committee (SEC), the governing body for the Tennessee Republican Party, met in Franklin, Tennessee at the Hilton Garden Inn on Saturday and removed eight candidates from the August 2 Republican Primary ballot for failing to qualify as “bona fide” Republicans as defined by party by-laws.

Seven of the candidates had filed petitions to run for the U.S. Senate; one had filed to run for Governor.

Party by-laws require a candidate to have voted in three of four successive Republican Party primary elections, and/or provide additional evidence of service to the Republican Party in order to qualify. Additional prospective candidates seeking election to U.S. Congress, and the state House and Senate, who do not meet the bona fide Republican standard, are likely to be removed in the next few weeks.

Previously, Blackburn received endorsements from Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN) and Rep. Diane Black (R-TN-06).

Blackburn is scheduled to face the presumptive Democratic nominee, former Gov. Phil Bredesen, in the November general election.