Tennessee

UPDATE 8:26 PM

As of 8 p.m., CNN has said that the U.S. Senate race in Tennessee between Republican candidate Marsha Blackburn and Democratic candidate Phil Bredesen is too close to call.

 

The normally Republican state has the rare opportunity to turn its Senate seat blue thanks to Bredesen, who is still popular because of his tenure at governor of Tennessee.

 

According to NBC News, the often moderate Democrat is appealing to many moderate GOP and independent voters in the state.

 

Blackburn and Bredesen are competing to fill the the vacancy in the seat left open by Sen. Bob Corker, who will be retiring.

 

If the Democrats win this state, they have the possibility to win the majority in the Senate.

UPDATE 9:00 PM

With 21 percent of the precincts reporting, Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate from Tennessee, Marsha Blackburn is currently leading the race over Democratic candidate Phil Bredesen.

 

According to CNN, Blackburn currently has 66.2 percent of the vote, with Bredesen having 32.5 percent. Blackburn is 153,792 votes ahead of her Democratic challenger.

 

The polls closed at 8 p.m. in Tennessee and votes are still being tallied.

 

Recent polls had the two closer than Republicans would like in the usually red state.

UPDATE 9:16 PM

Republican Bill Lee will become the next governor of Tennessee, CNN reports.

 

With 11 percent of the precincts reporting, as of 9:04 p.m., Democratic candidate Karl Dean lost to Lee, 29.9% to Lee’s 69.2 percent.

 

Lee won out over Dean and 26 other Independent candidates, the largest amount of Independent candidates in Tennessee’s history.

 

Tennessee Lt. Governor Randy McNally has already congratulated Lee on winning the race.

 

“After watching how Bill connects with people and inspires our citizens, I am convinced he is the perfect person to lead our state at this moment,” McNally said.

UPDATE 9:38 PM

Marsha Blackburn will become the next U.S. Senator from Tennessee.

 

According to Bloomberg, Blackburn, the Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate seat won 61.4 percent to Phil Bredesen’s 37.3 percent. Blackburn received over 600,000 votes in the election.

 

Blackburn wins in Tennessee despite Bredesen’s history as governor of the state, as well as an endorsement on Instagram from singer Taylor Swift.

 

Blackburn fills the senate seat left vacant by retiring Sen. Bob Corker.

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