Sen. Corker Backs Marsha Blackburn as His Replacement

Retiring Tennessee Sen. Bob Corker has announced in a tweet that he supports Rep. Marsha Blackburn in her bid to replace him in the upcoming November elections.

Now that the Republican primary has essentially concluded, I am sending a contribution to Representative Marsha Blackburn's campaign and wish her well in her race for the U.S. Senate.

— Bob Corker (@BobCorker) April 9, 2018

The tweet came weeks after Corker considered changing his mind about retirement and running against Blackburn in the GOP primary for his seat, according to The Hill.

After Corker had announced his retirement last year, Blackburn joined the race to replace him, but earlier this year Corker was considering running again after some Republicans raised concerns that Blackburn would not be able to defeat former Democratic Gov. Phil Bredesen in the general election.

As Corker weighed his options, Blackburn's main GOP primary opponent, Rep. Stephen Fincher withdrew from the race and urged Corker to jump in.

The Tennessee Republican Party then effectively ended the primary over the weekend when it removed other candidates, because they lacked the voting credentials to justify running as Republicans, according to The Tennessean.

In any case, Blackburn, who is an eight-time GOP congresswoman, had been expected to win the primary due to her tremendous advantage in fundraising.

However, in a poll released last week, Bredesen holds a 10-percentage point lead over Blackburn for the general election, according to The Greenville Sun.

The survey, conducted by Middle Tennessee State University, showed Bredesen with the support of 45 percent of Tennessee registered voters and Blackburn with 35 percent. Another 17 percent said they weren't sure, while the rest declined to answer.

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