A poll released Tuesday by the education advocacy organization Tennesseans for Student Success (TSS) shows U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) with a commanding lead in the 2026 gubernatorial Republican primary.
The poll, which surveyed 500 voters in the Volunteer State, shows 60.6 percent of Republican primary voters support Blackburn in the Republican primary for governor, while just 8.1 percent support U.S. Representative John Rose (R-TN-06) and 5.1 percent support Tennessee State Representative Monty Fritts (Kingston).
Just over 26 percent of voters remain undecided about whom they will vote for in the August 6 primary.
The latest Republican gubernatorial primary poll from @tnstudent shows Marsha Blackburn with a commanding lead at 61% on the ballot. It confirms what we’ve long known: not only does @realDonaldTrump think @VoteMarsha is a special person and Tennessee is lucky to have her; the… pic.twitter.com/ksSyJU2cyS
— TeamMarsha (@TeamMarshaTN) February 11, 2026
Blackburn’s campaign treasurer Glenn Jacobs, who also serves as Knox County’s mayor, said the results of Tuesday’s poll confirm “the momentum we feel on the ground: Tennesseans are coming together in support of Marsha Blackburn’s campaign to make Tennessee America’s conservative leader.”
Jacobs added, “We are not taking anything for granted, and Marsha will continue to fight to earn the support of Tennesseans from Memphis to Mountain City and everywhere in between. Join us on Team Marsha.”
Blackburn’s commanding lead in the TSS poll closely mirrors a separate poll released earlier this month by the Nashville-based think tank Beacon Center of Tennessee, which showed the incumbent senator with a 47-point lead over Rose and a 49-point lead over Fritts.
Similarly, in that poll, which surveyed 1,200 registered voters in Tennessee, 28 percent of voters were undecided, and just 1 percent said they would not vote in the upcoming primary election.
Blackburn’s campaign raised more than $5.5 million in its first five months since launching in August 2025, a fundraising pace it said set a record for contributions received by a gubernatorial campaign in any reporting period.
Rose’s campaign reported a total fundraising haul of $6.4 million from the time the congressman launched his gubernatorial bid in March 2025, while Fritts’ campaign reported raising less than $200,000 since its launch in September.
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
Photo “Marsha Blackburn” by Marsha Blackburn. Photo “John Rose” by John Rose.
