Blackburn Wins Governor As Democrats Make Gains In Tennessee

Marsha Blackburn won Tennessee's gubernatorial election Tuesday, becoming the state's first woman elected to the office even as Democrats made down-ballot gains. With all 95 counties reporting, unofficial results showed Blackburn with 45.5 percent of the vote and Democrat Jerri Green with 42.9 percent. Independent David Hatley received 9.3 percent. The win keeps the governor's office in Republican hands after Gov. Bill Lee leaves office due to term limits.

Democrats made their biggest gains in the Tennessee House, where six Republican incumbents lost their seats. The losses were spread across Rutherford, Knox, Montgomery, and Shelby counties. Republicans still kept their two-thirds supermajority in the chamber and did not lose any state Senate seats they controlled. The six House losses gave Democrats their first gains in eight years but did not change control of the General Assembly.

The closest setback came in Tennessee's 4th Congressional District, where Democrat Victoria Broderick finished 280 votes ahead of Republican incumbent Scott DesJarlais according to unofficial returns. If the result holds, Republicans would lose one congressional seat but their Tennessee delegation would remain split 8-1 because Republican Brent Taylor won the redrawn 9th District seat previously held by Democrat Steve Cohen. Tennessee's Republican losses were significant but much smaller than the party's setbacks nationally, where Democrats won control of both chambers of Congress.