Tennessee results for every midterm race

Tennessee’s Senate race is among the pivotal ones to watch.

The face-off between Republican Rep. Marsha Blackburn and former Democratic Gov. Phil Bredesen is one of a handful that are seen as a crucial inroads for a possible — but unlikely — Democratic majority in the upper chamber. Eyes have been fixed on this fight since incumbent Sen. Bob Corker announced that he would be retiring last year.

Polls for the race have favored Blackburn — an eight-term Congress member who’s notably anti-abortion — but Bredesen is still viewed as a relatively formidable challenger who remains quite popular with the state’s constituents. One reason: The last time Bredesen ran in Tennessee, he took 69 percent of the vote.

The firmly red state (Tennessee went for Trump by 26 points in 2016) is also due to pick a new governor, since Bill Haslam is term-limited out. Karl Dean, a former Democratic mayor of Nashville, is taking on Republican business executive Bill Lee, with polls giving Lee a solid lead.

A slew of House seats are also on the docket, though none are rated as particularly contentious.

Tennessee’s state Legislature is solidly Republican, and Daily Kos expects it to stay that way today, with the House and half the Senate on the ballot.

Blackburn’s Trumpy campaign is likely working because the president himself remains popular here, claiming a near-60 percent approval rating per Morning Consult.