MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — The race to succeed Gov. Bill Lee is down to its final hours, and the leading candidates spent the weekend crisscrossing Tennessee with the same message: everyday costs are too high.
Republican U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn rallied supporters in Murfreesboro on Sunday. She told the crowd her campaign had knocked on more than a million doors and made tens of thousands of calls, and listed cost of living, public safety, schools, rural health care and infrastructure as her priorities. Democratic nominee Jerri Green ran a phone bank in Memphis the same day and was scheduled to campaign in Murfreesboro on Monday. Independent Dave Hatley said online he had drawn packed rooms around the state during the week.
Polling had pointed to a tighter contest than many expected, with Green and Hatley still chasing Blackburn’s lead.
All of the major candidates say they want to end Tennessee’s sales tax on groceries. Beyond that, their plans split. Blackburn has pledged no tax increases, lower state spending and fewer housing regulations, backs a constitutional amendment that would bar a state property tax, and wants a state-level efficiency office, modeled on the federal DOGE effort, to hunt for waste.
Green would freeze the gas tax, raise wages and steer federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families money toward medical debt, housing help and child care. One proposal would spend $10 million in federal funds to wipe out roughly $1 billion in medical debt owed by more than 100,000 Tennesseans. Hatley wants to pause the gas tax, curb home buying by outside investors, offer infrastructure grants aimed at housing costs and order an independent audit of state spending.
Blackburn skipped a recent debate at Middle Tennessee State University, where Green, Hatley and independent Lauren Pinkston appeared. Pinkston has proposed growing community land trusts and adding 50,000 child care slots in her first four years.
Voters heading to the polls Tuesday must bring a photo ID issued by the federal government or by Tennessee state government, including a Tennessee driver license. Expired IDs still count, but college student IDs do not. A voter without ID casts a provisional ballot and has two business days to show ID at the county election commission. Hours vary by county and are listed in the state GoVoteTN app, and the state elections division takes questions at 1-877-850-4959.
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