With Governor Bill Lee ineligible to seek a third term in 2026, Knox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs said this week that Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) is the only potential candidate whose candidacy would ensure he would not enter the race before later endorsing the senator should she decide to launch a campaign for governor.
During his Sunday appearance on “Tennessee This Week,” Jacobs said he was flattered to be included among potential gubernatorial candidates before stating that Blackburn is the only hypothetical candidate whose decision would stop him from entering the race.
“Senator Blackburn. That would be the person, if she decides to run, that would take me out of the mix,” said Jacobs, the former WWE wrestler who rallied with President-elect Donald Trump during the Republican primaries last year.
Jacobs then told host Don Hudson, “It is greatly flattering to me to think that I am in the mix of those names that you just said,” referencing State Senate President Jack Johnson (R-Franklin), who apparently told Hudson he would not run for governor if Senator Bill Hagerty (R-TN) expressed interest in the position.
The same day the clip of Jacobs’ comments about Blackburn running for governor was posted by WATE 6 to Facebook, the mayor wrote about the senator in a post to the social media platform X.
Jacobs wrote, “Senator Blackburn has done an outstanding job as a state senator, U.S. congresswoman, and U.S. Senator. She would do an equally outstanding job as Governor and would have my full support if that’s what she decides.”
On Tuesday, Axios reported that Blackburn is considering running for governor.
Blackburn’s campaign for governor would come on the heels of her successful reelection to the U.S. Senate last November, when she bested her Democratic opponent, State Representative Gloria Johnson (D-Knoxville), by nearly 30 percent of the vote. She was sworn into her second term in the Senate earlier this month.
The senator has more recently expressed support for Trump’s cabinet nominations, including the president-elect’s nominee to direct the FBI, Kash Patel, who blamed the federal law enforcement agency for the reluctance to release the manifesto left by Covenant School killer Audrey Elizabeth Hale.
Watch Jacobs’ remarks about Blackburn’s potential candidacy:
– – –
Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Pennsylvania Daily Star and The Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Marsha Blackburn” by Marsha Blackburn. Photo “Glenn Jacobs” by Gage Skidmore. CC BY-SA 2.0.
_(cropped).jpg){kind=link}