Blue ripple licks Tennessee shores

Good morning, Lookout readers:

Well.

A predicted “blue tsunami” swept the U.S. in Tuesday’s midterm elections, giving control of the U.S. House and U.S. Senate to Democrats, and while the tsunami didn’t overtake Tennessee, it lapped at the shores of the Volunteer State, offering a few surprises.

This time last year, most savvy politicos would have said U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn was a heavy favorite to become Tennessee’s first woman governor, and indeed, she will be — but she barely won, edging out first-term Memphis City Councilmember Jerri Green by just over 2%.

In the night’s biggest shocker, in a congressional race that was on — checks notes — no one’s radar, including the Lookout’s, Democrat Victoria Broderick was poised to defeat eight-term Republican U.S. Rep. Scott DesJarlais by 200 votes. Senior Reporter Anita Wadhwani reports.

Another surprise? Democratic gains in the state House. Democrats were confident of three wins in Clarksville, Memphis and Knoxville (and Republicans agreed, just not on the record) but few predicted the near-wipeout of Rutherford County’s House delegation, as three of the five Republican lawmakers went down in flames.

Rutherford, which has become a suburb of Nashville, has been trending bluer and in the August county elections, Democrats won five county commission seats.

Additionally, Tennessee Democrats held two hotly contested open seats, one in Nashville and one in Bolivar. It was easily the best result for Democrats in two decades: the last time they flipped a state House seat was 2018.

The hottest ticket in town was the Congressional District 9 race between GOP state Sen. Brent Taylor and Democratic darling, Rep. Justin J. Pearson. Taylor claimed victory but as of 2 a.m., Pearson hadn’t conceded and the Associated Press hadn’t called the race.

Thanks for supporting our election coverage, and stick with us: we’ll be analyzing the results and keeping you posted on the latest developments.

by Sam Stockard

U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn scratched out a victory Tuesday to become the first woman governor in Tennessee history, claiming a mandate to govern conservatively even though she failed to capture a majority vote.

by Adam Friedman

In a race that drew national attention, former Tennessee Agriculture Commissioner Charlie Hatcher, a Republican, won Tennessee’s 5th Congressional District Tuesday, defeating Chaz Molder, the Democratic mayor of Columbia.

ELECTION 2026

by Ben Sessoms for Tennessee Lookout

“Tonight isn’t the result we wanted. I understand and I know that this hurts. Because I know how much each and every one of you has put into this campaign,” said Democratic gubernatorial nominee Jerri Green in her concession speech. But she urged her supporters to maintain enthusiasm and to keep fighting for what fueled a near shocking upset.

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