Sen. Marsha Blackburn took home Tennessee’s Republican Senate primary on Thursday, likely securing the senate seat in the process in the heavily-Republican state. Blackburn led Thursday’s primary with almost 93% of the vote over Tres Wittum, at the time the race was called by the Associated Press.
Blackburn, the incumbent senator, was largely seen as the favorite in the race heading in, having won her first race for Senate in 2018 over former Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen by 11 points.
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Blackburn’s lone challenger was Wittum, a former Tennessee legislative staffer who finished last in a primary bid for the state’s 5th Congressional District in 2022.
Blackburn will now move on to face off with Democratic state Sen. Gloria Johnson.
Johnson rose to fame last year after being one of three members of the Tennessee legislature to stage a protest on the state House floor in the aftermath of a shooting at an elementary school. She was dubbed as a member of the “Tennessee Three,” being joined in the protest by fellow Reps. Justin Pearson and Justin Jones, both Democrats.
The protests, which violated House rules, resulted in the expulsion of both Pearson and Jones, who were later reappointed and easily won special elections to regain their seats.