A quick guide to some Tennessee electoral nominees
Election day is approaching quickly. Here is a closer look at some of Tennessee’s candidates.
On Nov. 6, Tennesseans will head to the polls for the 2018 mid-term elections.
Along with the gubernatorial election and the Class I U.S. Senate Seat election, Tennesseans can expect to vote for new local, state and national representatives.
Former Democratic Tennessee governor Phil Bredesen and current Republican Congressman Marsha Blackburn won their parties’ primaries for the Senate Seat. Former Nashville mayor Karl Dean won the Democratic nomination and Businessman Bill Lee won the Republican nomination for governor.
According to Dean’s website, Dean supports immigrants receiving college tuition, same-sex marriage, abortion, stricter gun control, higher taxes to the wealthy and expanding Medicaid.
Dean promises to make education his number one priority as governor. He plans to increase teacher pay, invest in high quality early childhood education and ensure all school districts get the resources they need. He plans to create more jobs within Tennessee with direct business recruitment and focuses on the state’s investments in infrastructure.
According to Lee’s website, he follows the more conservative route with him letting Tennesseans know he is not a politician, but a Christian, businessman and a farmer. Lee has pro-life beliefs, does not believe children brought here illegally should receive in-state tuition, believes marriage is between a man and a woman, wants to expand Second Amendment rights and to not expand Obamacare.
Lee makes taking care of rural Tennessee one of his top priorities. He has laid out a roadmap that focuses on how to better rural Tennessee as governor.
Although Bredesen is running as a Democrat, he refers to himself as a moderate. According to Bredesen’s website, he believes in the renewal of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, securing the country’s borders, stricter restrictions on gun control, raising the minimum wage and the death penalty.
Blackburn has received support from President Trump and Vice President Pence. According to Blackburn’s website, Blackburn does not support abortion, Obamacare or same-sex marriage. She favors gun ownership, strict border control, tax cuts and cutting government spending.
If Bredesen wins, he will be the first Democratic nominee to win a U.S. Senate seat in Tennessee since 1990. If Blackburn wins, she will be the first female in Tennessee to hold a U.S. Senate seat.
The University of Tennessee’s Howard Baker Center will host the second Bredesen and Blackburn debate this Wednesday, Oct. 10 at 8 p.m.
Dean and Lee will debate on Tuesday, Oct. 9 at the Eastman Employee Center in Kingsport, Tenn. The two will also debate in Nashville on Friday, Oct. 12 at Belmont University in Nashville, Tenn.
The last day to register for the election is Oct. 9 and the last day to request an absentee ballot is Oct. 30.
Featured image by DonkeyHotey courtesy of Creative Commons
Edited by Vanessa Rodriguez
