New poll: Marsha Blackburn rises over Phil Bredesen in Tennessee Senate race, Bill Lee’s lead grows governor

Many voters are eyeing midterm elections, but a new poll examines the Senate race in Tennessee, indicating Marsha Blackburn is ahead of Phil Bredesen by 4% in a very close race.

Marsha Blackburn

The new Gravis poll has Blackburn at 48% to Bredesen’s 44%.

Bredesen, the former governor, has made his opposition to the Trump tariffs a focal point of his campaign.

While Blackburn isn’t viewed a part of the establishment or a Trump “hater,” she did speak out against the new tariffs at Lipscomb University, repeating that she’s “not a fan” of tariffs.

On Trump’s steel and aluminum tariffs, for example, Blackburn reasoned that there’s a national security component because so few aluminum smelters and steel mills are still operating in the U.S.

“I think it’s so imperative that we have the ability to protect ourselves – food security, you look at manufacturing security,” Blackburn told reporters.

Bredesen, the former governor, has made his opposition to the tariffs a focal point of his campaign, and has polled ahead of Blackburn in recent months.

The same poll also includes polling results to replace term-limited Republican Gov. Bill Haslam, Republican businessman Bill Lee has an 11-point lead (51-40) over Democrat Karl Dean, the former mayor of Nashville.

Other interesting numbers from that poll:

• A full 59 percent oppose abolishing ICE, while 23 percent support it.
• Candidates who support abolishing ICE would lose 49 percent support.
• A full 52 percent want to see Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh, confirmed, while only 30 percent disagree.
• Candidates who support Kavanaugh are more likely to win 47 percent of the vote.
• A full 56 percent want a border wall built between the U.S. and Mexico, while only 40 percent disagree.
• Only 44 percent believe the Russia investigation is justified, while 52 percent see it as politically motivated.
• Only 38 percent approve of special counsel Robert Mueller, while 48 percent disapprove.