U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) officially submitted to the Tennessee Secretary of State her nominating petition to qualify for the August 6 Republican primary ballot for Tennessee governor on Friday.
Blackburn’s petition includes 3,011 signatures from registered Tennessee voters across all 95 counties, which, according to her campaign, broke the record for the largest number of signatures on a submitted nominating petition in state history.
IT’S OFFICIAL! I’ve filed my nominating petition to serve as Tennessee’s next Governor.
Thank you to the 3,011 Tennesseans from all 95 counties who signed. Because of you, we broke the state record, and because of you, we will make Tennessee America’s conservative leader.
We’re… pic.twitter.com/opB0UJPkue
— Marsha Blackburn (@VoteMarsha) March 6, 2026
Upon turning in her nominating petition Friday, Blackburn said in a statement, “It has taken Tennesseans from Tiptonville to Turtletown and everywhere in between to make this happen, and I am ever so grateful…A great campaign is underway, and together, we are going to make Tennessee America’s conservative leader.”
“Tennesseans want – and deserve – a leader who will make our great state the most conservative in the nation. And that leader is me,” Blackburn added in a social media post.
The signatures on Blackburn’s petition were approved as of Friday evening, according to the Tennessee Secretary of State’s website.
Blackburn joins U.S. Representative John Rose (R-TN-06), Rebecca Inman, and State Rep. Monty Fritts (R-Kingston) as the Republican candidates whose nominating petitions have been submitted and approved.
Among the signatures Blackburn collected for her nominating petition came from a large number of state leaders, including Deputy Governor and Commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development Stuart McWhorter, Finance and Administration Commissioner Jim Bryson, and prominent legislators in the Tennessee General Assembly House Majority Leader William Lamberth (R-Portland), House Majority Whip Clark Boyd (R-District 46), House Caucus Chairman Jeremy Faison (R-Cosby), Knox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs, and House Speaker Cameron Sexton (R-Crossville).
The qualifying deadline for candidates to submit their petitions to the Secretary of State’s office is 12:00 noon on Tuesday, March 10.
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
