Personal finance expert and Tennessean Dave Ramsey endorsed U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn’s (R-TN) campaign for governor, backing the Republican candidate while highlighting their decades-long friendship and shared history fighting to keep a state income tax out of the Volunteer State.
Ramsey, the founder and CEO of Ramsey Solutions, announced his endorsement in a video posted to X, praising Blackburn’s conservative record and commitment to Tennessee.
“For over 25 years, Marsha and Chuck Blackburn have been friends of Dave and Sharon Ramsey. We fought battles at the Tennessee level together, keeping an income tax out, and we’ve followed her and watched her service and her commitment to Tennessee values through Congress and now into the Senate and, of course, as Tennessee’s next Governor,” Ramsey said.
Dave Ramsey Endorses Marsha Blackburn for Governor!
I'm honored to have the endorsement of my friend, Dave Ramsey. Together, we fought to keep a state income tax out of Tennessee and protect the conservative values that have made our state the envy of the nation. As your… pic.twitter.com/xFu90k3jNR
— Marsha Blackburn (@VoteMarsha) July 27, 2026
“She is all about faith, family, hope, and opportunity. She’s never stopped fighting for the people of Tennessee, and I have no doubt that will continue with her in the Governor’s office. I’m Dave Ramsey, and I’m proud to endorse my friend, Marsha Blackburn, to be the next Governor of Tennessee,” he added.
Blackburn said she was honored to receive Ramsey’s endorsement.
“Dave Ramsey has been a friend for many years, and I’m honored to have his endorsement,” Blackburn said.
“Together, we fought to keep a state income tax out of Tennessee and protect the conservative values that have made our state the envy of the nation. I’m grateful for his confidence, and as your governor, I’ll continue working every day to keep taxes low, defend our values, grow our economy, and ensure Tennessee remains the best place in America to live, work, and rear a family,” she added.
Ramsey’s reference to the pair’s efforts to keep a state income tax out of Tennessee echoes a major theme Blackburn has emphasized throughout her gubernatorial campaign.
During an exclusive interview with The Tennessee Star earlier this month, Blackburn recalled leading the four-year legislative and grassroots effort to defeat former Governor Don Sundquist’s proposal to impose a state income tax after he reversed a campaign pledge opposing one.
“That happened in February of ’99, when they first floated the state income tax,” Blackburn said. “I had chaired his campaign in Middle Tennessee, and then as I ran for the State Senate, I made a promise I would not support a state income tax. So I told him, ‘It’s not personal, but it is policy, and I cannot support this.’”
Reflecting on the battle, Blackburn argued defeating the proposal helped shape Tennessee’s economic success.
“I am ever so grateful that we were able to defeat that tax and put our state on a great path,” she said.
Fiscal conservatism has remained at the center of Blackburn’s campaign platform.
During the same exclusive interview with The Star, Blackburn also unveiled plans to launch a “Tennessee DOGE” initiative aimed at rooting out waste, fraud, and government bloat if elected governor.
“William Lamberth, who is the majority leader in the State House, he and I have talked about doing a Tennessee DOGE,” Blackburn said. “He’s a big fan of this, and I think it’s going to be the right thing to do, and we need to do it right off the bat.”
She said the initiative would begin with an examination of state government to identify inefficiencies.
“Just right off the top, so that we are addressing where there is bloat or waste or fraud that is in state government,” Blackburn said. “We run a pretty lean ship, but there’s always, still there’s waste.”
Blackburn has also argued Tennessee should respond to responsibilities shifting from Washington back to the states by shrinking, rather than expanding, state government.
“Those things are coming back to the states, and we’re going to need good, solid governors that, for me, are thinking Tennessee first, thinking America first, implementing President Trump’s agenda so that when this power comes back to us, we don’t grow government—we shrink it,” Blackburn said. “That is what we need to be doing.”
She has also laid out a broader economic agenda centered on keeping taxes low, recruiting new businesses, expanding research and innovation, and making Tennessee what she has described as “America’s conservative leader.”
Early voting for Tennessee’s August 6 Republican gubernatorial primary runs through Saturday, August 1.
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network.
Photo “Dave Ramsey” by Dave Ramsey.
I admire Mr. Ramsey’s common sense to financial management BUT…. Seems like all of the big dollar folks are flocking to the Blackburn camp. That is their prerogative, but I do not think the old lady bureaucrat is right for leading Tennessee. Of course, I do not have big bucks so that might be why I feel that way. I am voting for John Rose.