Senator Blackburn Continues to Hold Strong Lead in Republican Gubernatorial Primary

Blackburn kicking off her campaign last year (Photo by Sky Arnold)

U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn, R-TN, continues to hold a strong lead in the latest poll of August’s Republican gubernatorial primary.

That poll of 300 Republican voters by the education advocacy organization Tennesseans for Student Success found Blackburn with just over 56 percent support, followed by U.S. Congressman John Rose, R-TN, with 13.8 percent, and State Representative Monty Fritts, R-Kingston, with 10.5 percent.

Blackburn’s support is similar to that of the organization’s February poll, which found her leading with 60 percent of respondents, compared to Rose’s 8 percent and Fritts’ 5 percent. The Tennessee Firefly is a project of and supported by Tennesseans for Student Success (TSS).

Reduction in Undecideds

One noticeable change from the two TSS polls is a more than 6 percent reduction in the number of voters who remain undecided in the race.

The February TSS poll found 26 percent of respondents were undecided, and that number has dropped to 19.7 percent in the latest poll.

TSS also asked supporters of Rose and Fritts who their second choice would be, and Blackburn led those responses with nearly 33 percent to Rose’s 27.6 percent and Fritts’ 16 percent.

Results Similar to Other Polls

Blackburn has led every publicly released poll of the race, with support from just under 60 percent of voters or above since announcing her campaign in August.

Earlier this week, market researcher Cygnal released a poll showing Blackburn leading the race, with support from 58 percent of voters.

The Beacon Center released its third poll of the race in early February, reporting Blackburn with 57 percent support among Republican voters, Fritts at 8 percent, and Rose at 7 percent.