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Outgoing lawmaker to vote by proxy in Tennessee Senate speaker race

A Tennessee Republican senator who captured a redrawn congressional seat will vote by proxy Tuesday in the Senate GOP Caucus election, helping select the state’s next lieutenant governor in a tight race for the leadership post. In a caucus poll, Republican senators decided 26-0 to allow an attorney for outgoing Sen…

States push short-term insurance as healthcare costs climb

Earlier this year, Madison Harden-Stein and her colleagues at the Georgetown University Center on Health Insurance Reforms posed as consumers interested in buying insurance as part of a secret shopper study. They found that insurance brokers and sales representatives often pushed short-term health insurance plans with…

The collapse of GOP voters for Blackburn in TN. Two years later, and 1M fewer votes.

The top Tennessee Republican received nearly 1 million fewer votes in 2026 than 2024, a turnout collapse that reverberated down-ballot, costing the GOP half a dozen state House seats and effectively neutralizing the party’s mid-cycle redistricting of the state’s U.S. House map. Gov.-elect Marsha Blackburn garnered…

GOP Congress faces funding deadline, farm bill, lengthy to-do list in year-end session

WASHINGTON — Voters may have given Democrats control of Congress in the midterm elections, but Republicans will remain in charge of both chambers during the lame-duck session that spans November and December. The relatively brief five-week schedule, which begins Monday, gives GOP leaders a chance to wrap up unfinished…

Mastermind of immigration crackdown Stephen Miller named Trump chief of staff

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump announced Friday he will elevate Stephen Miller to White House chief of staff, the first shake-up of his administration officials since Democrats trounced Republicans in the midterms. Former Chief of Staff Susie Wiles will move to the “Trump Political Operation,” the president…

Stockard on the Stump: Blackburn camp nearly wrote losing playbook

And the band played on and on … It seemed they would play the entire Merle Haggard box set before U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn came out and claimed victory Tuesday night in Tennessee’s gubernatorial race. No doubt, folks in the Blackburn camp were getting antsy as the vote differential with Democrat Jerri Green ran…

Following midterm landslide, Democrats pressed by supporters to deliver on promises

WASHINGTON — As the monumental midterm victories set in, Democrats began to talk strategy Wednesday on how to deliver what voters want: lower prices, attainable health care and an end to a stagnant and expensive conflict in the Middle East. Starting in January, the party will control both chambers of Congress, giving…

Manufacturing company ABB announces second expansion in Selmer, pledges 227 new jobs

Switzerland-based manufacturing company ABB will invest $50 million into an expansion in Selmer, marking the company’s second expansion in McNairy County since last year. The move will add a projected 227 jobs, the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development announced Thursday. ABB will build a new…

Trump’s gerrymandering push flops as Democrats win redrawn seats

Alabama Republicans had hoped Rep. Shomari Figures would deliver a concession speech on Tuesday night after the state legislature redrew his district to be more GOP-friendly. Instead, the Democrat declared victory — winning nearly 54% of the vote. “We know what happened with this district,” Figures told supporters as…

Van Epps secures reelection to Tennessee’s Congressional District 7 seat

Republican Matt Van Epps secured reelection to Tennessee’s 7th Congressional District, outperforming Democratic candidate Darden Copeland at the polls by just over 2 percentage points. The Associated Press called the race for Van Epps Thursday morning. “I believe in showing up, getting to work, and delivering results…

Tennessee voters adopt three constitutional amendments

Tennessee voters on Tuesday soundly approved three constitutional amendments that limit access to bail, expand victim rights and prohibit a statewide property. The vote counts for all three ballot initiatives on the ballot this year cleared the threshold set by the state to amend the state’s constitution: a majority…

Tennessee judge extends block on immigration checks in HIV/AIDS program

A Nashville judge on Wednesday continued to block the Tennessee Department of Health from demanding proof of citizenship or immigration status from HIV-positive individuals who are enrolled in a safety-net healthcare program. Chancellor I’Ashea Myles’ extension of a temporary restraining order, first issued Oct. 21…

Democrats won Congress. Now they have to figure out how to deal with Trump.

WASHINGTON — Democratic leaders in Congress have just a couple months to decide how they want to balance investigations into President Donald Trump and his administration with securing his signature on major bills to address the cost of living, a top concern for voters. While Democrats gained control of the House and…

Midterm winners include several who made history

WASHINGTON — Winners of more than a dozen congressional and gubernatorial races have broken longstanding barriers of race, gender and sexuality. The results set records for the most Black governors and most women governors, and the first Black woman governor, Georgia’s Keisha Lance Bottoms. Democrats, who flipped the…

Election Day 2026 in photos

U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn, who won the Tennessee governor's race in a narrow victory, embraces conservative talk show host Clay Travis at her Nov. 3, 2026 Election Night party. (Photo by John Partipilo/Tennessee Lookout) Velma Farris, age 102, right, smiles as she waits for a voting booth to open at Nashville’s…

Blackburn won’t address U.S. Senate appointment

Gov.-elect Marsha Blackburn refused to say Wednesday whether she will appoint a former private prison executive to the U.S. Senate seat she is set to vacate. Asked by a Lookout reporter whether she would name Damon Hininger, the one-time president and CEO of Tennessee’s private-prison company, CoreCivic, to replace…

Vance and Trump blame midterm GOP elections loss on their war in Iran

The fingerpointing is coming from inside the house. Vice President JD Vance said in a lengthy social media post Wednesday that Republicans’ shellacking in the midterm elections the night before was mainly due to the administration’s war in Iran. Though Vance sought to soften the blow to President Donald Trump by…

Democrats win sizable US House majority amid sweep of close races

WASHINGTON — Democrats will regain control of the U.S. House early next year, after voters throughout the country rejected the policies that Republicans and President Donald Trump implemented during the last two years. The Associated Press, which States Newsroom looks to for the projected winner of congressional…

Democrats flip six TN state House seats, as Mufreesboro area delivers blue wave

Tennessee Democrats flipped six state House seats during Tuesday’s election and nearly wiped out the existing Rutherford County delegation as three of five Republicans lost their races. Democrats still remain in the superminority in Tennessee’s state House, but the victory marked the first time the party has gained…

‘Not the end of the fight’: Green strikes positive tone in concession to Blackburn

As the night wore on in Chattanooga and election results poured in, a crowd of supporters at Jerri Green’s watch party cheered each time the screen displayed a lead for the Democratic gubernatorial candidate over her Republican opponent, U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn. In the end, ultimately, Blackburn prevailed with…

The blue tsunami sweeps the US, as Democrats land huge gains in Congress

Voters across the country administered a sharp reprimand to President Donald Trump and Republicans who hold majorities in Congress, with Democrats gaining comfortable majorities in the Senate and the House. Several U.S. Senate and House races remained uncalled by The Associated Press as Election Day ended on the East…

Democrats score control of US Senate in stunning midterm victory

WASHINGTON — In a stunning upset, Democrats ousted Republicans and flipped control of the U.S. Senate Tuesday night, effectively establishing a barricade for President Donald Trump’s agenda for the last two years of his term. Democrats will now have the power to block many of Trump’s nominees, both executive and…

Republican Brent Taylor claims victory; Justin Pearson does not concede US House race

Republican Memphis state Sen. Brent Taylor claimed victory in the race for Tennessee’s 9th Congressional District Tuesday, a district that was redrawn months before the election to give Republicans the upper hand. Taylor narrowly clinched the seat with 111,968 votes (49.63%), about 2,500 votes ahead of Democratic…

U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn ekes out Tennessee governor’s seat

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. Final unofficial reports from the Tennessee Secretary of State showed Blackburn, a former Tennessee lawmaker…

Live updates: 2026 Tennessee election

Tennesseans will elect a new governor on Tuesday and for the first time in state history, it’s almost certain to be a woman. U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn, a veteran of state politics, is the Republican nominee and first-term Memphis City Councilmember Jerri Green is the Democratic one. Beyond that history-making…

As Election Day arrives, Democrats poised to see gains and pump brakes on Trump agenda

WASHINGTON — Tens of millions of Americans have already cast a ballot in the 2026 midterm elections that will determine control of Congress and shape President Donald Trump’s remaining policy agenda. As of Monday, more than 57 million Americans had cast a vote, according to the University of Florida’s Election Lab…

Federal Election Day observers headed to Tennessee

Teams of federal election monitors will be present in three Tennessee counties on Tuesday as part of the Trump administration plan to “oversee federal voting protections and investigate potential election fraud,” according to a Justice Department spokesperson. Monitors will be present in Knox, Davidson and Shelby…

Trump promotes Reflecting Pool renovation the day before the election

WASHINGTON — One day before his party is forecast to lose control of the U.S. House, and possibly the Senate, President Donald Trump gathered guests and press at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool to tout the “magnificent” renovation of the monument — a monthslong project plagued by algae, reclosure and false…

Election officials brace for federal interference but expect to persevere

As concerns rise about the potential for federal influence over the results of next week’s midterm elections, many voting experts and advocates remain confident that the nation’s highly localized systems of administering and counting votes will persevere. Facing sinking approval ratings over high prices, the White…

Blackburn took campaign gifts from TVA board nominees while backing their candidacies

This story was originally published by The Institute for Public Service Reporting Memphis. Marsha Blackburn brimmed with enthusiasm when she introduced Mitch Graves at a Senate confirmation hearing last fall. A veteran Memphis healthcare executive, Graves had been nominated by President Trump to serve on the board of…

Explosive spending, ugly ads and courtroom battles set stage for tense midterm elections

WASHINGTON — When the polls close Tuesday night, the 2026 U.S. election will go down as one of history’s most expensive and extraordinarily ugly midterms — galvanizing record-breaking early voter turnout among a deeply divided electorate. Voters on Saturday crossed the high-water mark of 52.7 million early votes cast…

Early voting turnout tops 1.28M, about 98K short of 2018 total

More than 1.28 million Tennessee voters cast their 2026 midterm ballots during early voting, outpacing the 2022 midterm early voting turnout by 45%. But the total fell about 98,000 votes short of equalling early voting turnout for the 2018 midterms. All counties except Johnson recorded more early votes cast than in…

Federal subpoenas to election officials mark escalating Trump DOJ pressure campaign

As the Trump administration waged a public legal fight with California over the ballots of suspected noncitizen voters in mid-October, behind the scenes a federal grand jury in Santa Ana issued a series of subpoenas to election officials in Los Angeles County at federal prosecutors’ urging. The subpoenas demanded a…

Sponsored Commentary: A New Approach to Closing the Disability Wealth Gap

It was another financial institution’s commercial that motivated me to create something different. Two busy white, apparently nondisabled, suburban parents were standing on their carefully manicured lawn talking about how they needed to go to the bank to plan for the future of their adult son with Down syndrome. They…

Trump will hold in-person rallies in Iowa and Kansas after all as election nears

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s rallies in Kansas and Iowa this weekend are back on after initial cancellations, States Newsroom confirmed Friday. The Midwest rallies mark the final sprint to Election Day on Nov. 3 — now just four days away — where the GOP is itching to maintain its narrow majority in the U.S.

Nearly $10M spent by outside groups attacking independent TN gubernatorial candidate

Two independent expenditure groups have now spent just under $10 million attacking Tennessee independent gubernatorial candidate David Hatley, with the 2026 election less than five days away. Hatley is running as a “conservative” independent, drawing ire from U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn, the Republican gubernatorial…

Stockard on the Stump: Palace intrigue takes over Tennessee Senate

Intrigue is ramping up in advance of a Senate Republican Caucus vote that will choose the next lieutenant governor, the person first in line to succeed an incapacitated governor. Caucus Chairman Ken Yager confirmed Thursday leaders are considering allowing Sen. Brent Taylor, if he wins the 9th District congressional…

In a blizzard of lawsuits, Trump’s DOJ battles across the US over midterm elections

The Trump administration’s sweeping efforts to combat noncitizen voting and assert authority over elections came under intense scrutiny in courtrooms across the country on Thursday, as Democrats and voting rights groups alleged federal election interference. A federal judge in Washington, D.C., ordered the U.S…

The 2026 Tennessee gubernatorial debate in photos

Three of the four major Tennessee gubernatorial candidates appeared at a forum one week before the 2026 election in the only statewide nonpartisan forum, sponsored by the Tennessee Press Association and Middle Tennessee State University. Democratic nominee Jerri Green, a member of the Memphis City Council, and…

Trump cancels weekend Kansas and Iowa rallies 5 days ahead of election

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s rally in Salina, Kansas, on Saturday is canceled, the Kansas Republican Party confirmed to States Newsroom. An appearance scheduled for Sunday in Dubuque, Iowa, was also canceled, the Republican National Committee said in a late Thursday press release. In-person rallies packed…

Tennessee congressional candidate responds to allegations he sent unsolicited nude pics

A Republican congressional candidate endorsed by President Donald Trump dismissed accusations he sent nude pictures as “youthful indiscretions.” In a story published Tuesday by the Nashville Scene, Sen. Brent Taylor stopped short of admitting to sending the pictures after more than one anonymous source said they had…

Green and Pinkston speak after gubernatorial forum. Here are the biggest takeaways

Three out of four gubernatorial candidates in Tennessee participated Tuesday night in a forum held at Middle Tennessee State University a week before voters elect a new official to the state’s highest office. ​Democratic nominee Jerri Green and independent candidates David Hatley and Lauren Pinkston attended the…

Courts to decide fate of Trump’s latest push to control voting as Election Day nears

Less than a week before Election Day, President Donald Trump’s unprecedented drive for power over elections has set the stage for a series of courtroom fights that could quickly lead to a high-stakes showdown at the U.S. Supreme Court over the limits of federal authority. Democrats and voting rights advocates have…

Early voting surges in midterm elections as millions cast their ballots

WASHINGTON — Tens of millions of Americans have already made their way to the ballot box as early voting is underway in a midterm election that will determine control of the House and the Senate, possibly flipping one or both from Republicans to Democrats. As of Tuesday afternoon, more than 34 million people have…

Tennessee toll lane contractor promises to pay state nearly $148 billion

The road construction group building Tennessee’s toll lanes along the I-24 southeast corridor is upping the ante, promising to pay the state nearly $148 billion over 50 years to lock in the deal, six times more than initially guaranteed. The Tennessee Department of Transportation and DriveTN, a consortium led by…

Tennessee hosts first gubernatorial forum in eight years. GOP frontrunner no-shows

Three of the four major Tennessee gubernatorial candidates appeared at a forum one week before the 2026 election and answered questions on a range of topics, including private school vouchers, data centers and toll lanes. U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn, the Republican nominee and favorite to win the race, declined to…

Trump’s DOJ sends 1,000 election monitors to 50 states; locations not yet disclosed

The U.S. Department of Justice plans to send election monitors to every state ahead of Election Day, expanding a long-standing practice that’s spurred concern this year among Democrats and voting rights advocates because of President Donald Trump’s push to influence elections. The Justice Department for decades has…

U.S. Rep. Fleischmann says Hegseth could take Blackburn’s Senate seat if vacated

There’s a race going on in Tennessee that’s not on the ballot. If U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn wins her bid for governor, her vacated seat is up for grabs and open to an appointment by the governor. U.S. Rep. Chuck Fleischmann, a Republican, is on the ballot for re-election in Tennessee’s 3rd Congressional District, but

Tennessee subterranean authority member won’t take first Boring Company tunnel ride

A member of the Tennessee board overseeing construction of a Nashville tunnel isn’t worried yet about the potential for sinkholes detailed in a new study, but even he is leery it could be flooded by the Cumberland River. Former state Sen. Bill Ketron of Murfreesboro, a member of the newly-formed Subterranean…

The Democrat daring to defy the odds and flip Tennessee’s 3rd District blue

Anna Golladay, the Democratic candidate for Tennessee’s 3rd Congressional District, is no stranger to politics. She first ran for elected office in 2025 for a seat on the Chattanooga City Council, losing in a runoff by 256 votes. Beyond politics, Golladay, a United Methodist pastor, has a history of using her faith to…

Tennessee officials urge caution amid reports of ballot problems

A Tennessee Democratic lawmaker is calling for election officials to resolve complaints that voting machines are defaulting to candidates they didn’t want to select but stopped short of saying ballots are rigged. “Obviously, this keeps coming up and it needs to be addressed after this election, because it’s not…

Midterm early voter turnout tops 2022 stats by 57% in first 8 days, but lags behind 2018

Eight days into early voting, turnout was more than 57% higher for Tennessee’s Nov. 3 midterm election than it was in 2022, according to state data. More than 665,600 people cast their ballots as of Thursday, representing 13.85% of registered voters in Tennessee. The early voter turnout still lags behind 2018’s 8-day…

Commentary: What the town kept and what it couldn’t lend

I was raised in Erin, Tennessee, by people who would drive forty minutes with a casserole to a family they had never liked, and I want that said before anything else, because everything I’m about to describe happened inside a place that loved me in the only currency it had on hand. A small town

‘We don’t want it’: Voter backlash against data centers consumes midterm elections

SPRINGDALE, Pa. — Residents in a small southwestern Pennsylvania town are facing the prospect of a 47-acre data center facility on their doorstep. “Right here behind this fence is where they want to put up the data center, and as you can see, there’s houses right across the street, roughly 100 feet,” said lifelong…

Sponsored Commentary: The Cost of ‘I Do’ in the Disability Community

When Patrice Jetter and Garry Wickham became engaged, the first decisions were of small, giddy consequence: where to hold the ceremony, whom to invite, what to wear. But soon enough, a far weightier question eclipsed them all: whether they could afford to marry at all. They learned that, as people with disabilities…

District 5 Congressional candidates Molder, Hatcher clash over tariffs in forum

Candidates for Tennessee’s redrawn 5th Congressional district took the stage together Wednesday for what is likely the final time before the Nov. 3 election. Republican Charlie Hatcher and Democrat Chaz Molder clashed on President Donald Trump’s handling of international tariffs, but agreed on the importance of…

Stockard on the Stump: Republican lawmaker’s apology on “hanging” seems hollow

A Tennessee Republican lawmaker is reiterating support for public hangings three years after giving a half-baked apology for calling for a return to “hanging from a tree” as a form of capital punishment. State Rep. Paul Sherrell of Sparta said in a recent political forum in McMinnville that a “good hanging right here…

Why the new progressive Democrats in Congress might unite with the old Dems, for now

PORTLAND, Ore. — The latest cosponsor of a U.S. House bill to provide single-payer health insurance defeated a Republican incumbent in a suburban and rural Oregon district by fewer than 10,000 votes two years ago. U.S. Rep. Janelle Bynum, a Democrat now seeking her second term, doesn’t have the far-left profile of…

Dems in Congress say they’re wary Trump won’t accept results of election

As Election Day approaches, top Democrats on the intelligence committees in Congress are preparing for the possibility that President Donald Trump will allege foreign interference to discredit unfavorable results. And they want leading U.S. intelligence officials to be immediately reachable if he does. Sen. Mark…

Judge blocks Homeland Security from conducting election-related sweeps in 9 states

A federal judge on Wednesday night blocked the Department of Homeland Security from conducting election-related field operations that could sweep up U.S. citizens in nine states. Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín, an appointee of President Joe Biden in U.S. District Court in the Northern District of California, issued a…

Tennessee Republicans want electrocution or firing squads to replace lethal injection

Tennessee Republican lawmakers are ready to change the state’s death penalty laws in the wake of two botched executions by lethal injection, including a renewed look at electrocution and firing squads. Republican Rep. Jody Barrett of Dickson confirmed this week he is considering sponsoring legislation in 2027 to make…

Nashville judge temporarily blocks immigration status checks in HIV/AIDS program

A Nashville judge temporarily blocked Tennessee health officials from requiring immigration status checks of HIV-positive individuals enrolled in a healthcare safety-net program. Chancellor I’Ashea L. Myles issued the temporary restraining order late Wednesday. The order prevents the Tennessee Department of Health…

Trump set to campaign in tight US Senate contests in Iowa, Texas, Ohio, Michigan

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s midterm travel blitz will continue in the coming days, with Election Day on Nov. 3 now less than two weeks out, headlining rallies in several states hosting hard-fought Senate contests seen as toss-ups. Trump began his October campaign road trip in GOP-friendly states, but has…

Memphis City Council asks ICE, National Guard to leave

The Memphis City Council on Tuesday voted in favor of a nonbinding resolution calling for the removal of Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Tennessee National Guard from the city. The resolution drew dozens of speakers who urged its adoption during a public comment period. It takes aim at the presence of…

US Supreme Court allows gender-affirming care for trans people in federal prisons

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court Wednesday denied the Trump administration’s emergency request to implement a rule that would terminate gender-affirming care for transgender people incarcerated in federal prisons. It means a lower court order that blocked the policy from going into effect will remain in place for…

Congressional candidates for Shelby County districts raise combined $4.6M in 90 days

Candidates for Tennessee’s three newly drawn congressional seats that represent parts of Shelby County raised a combined $4.6 million in the 90 days leading up to October, campaign finance records show. Tennessee’s Republican supermajority redrew the state’s congressional district map in May, splitting Democratic…

How Nebraska helped turn 2026 into the year of the independent US Senate candidate

HYANNIS, Neb. — With 19 days until Election Day, Dan Osborn sat across from three skeptical voters in a conference room in this blink-and-you-miss-it rural Nebraska town. Osborn, a bearded former union leader and Navy veteran, wants to become the first independent U.S. senator from Nebraska since World War II by…

Tennessee judicial panel dismisses private-school voucher lawsuit

A Tennessee judicial panel dismissed a legal challenge of the state’s private-school vouchers, finding that the constitution doesn’t prohibit creation of the $260 million-plus program. The three-judge panel dismissed the entire case filed in 2025 by a group of parents who said Tennessee’s Education Freedom Scholarship…

Lawsuit: Tennessee to impose immigration checks in HIV/AIDS safety-net program

In August, Tennessee organizations that aid low-income individuals living with HIV received a surprise memo from the state’s health department: “Effective immediately,” the memo said, “no patients without documentation of citizenship or legal residency may be newly enrolled” in many of the services provided through…

Memphis schools state takeover paused again

This story was originally published by Chalkbeat. Sign up for their newsletters at ckbe.at/newsletters Did you know search engines like Google are changing the way you see news? Keep Chalkbeat’s valuable education coverage at the top of your feeds by clicking here and checking the box next to our name. The state…