Blackburn wants to close Tennessee’s primaries. History shows why that’s complicated
First-time voter Brian Amaro looks over his ballot before casting it in a primary election Thursday, Aug. 6, 2026, in Memphis. (George Walker IV/AP Photo)
In the last week of early voting ahead of the Aug. 6 Election Day, U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn opened another front in a culture-war campaign for her larger Tennessee gubernatorial bid.
She posted on X: “CLOSE TENNESSEE’S PRIMARIES!”
The three-word post referred to the state’s open-primary status, which Blackburn, the Republican nominee for governor, wants to change.
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2026 elections crossover voting party primaries Marsha Blackburn Jerri Green Willie Simon Rachel Wall Subscriber OnlyThank you for reading The Daily Memphian. Your support is critical.
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Bill Dries
Bill Dries covers city and county government and politics. He is a native Memphian and has been a reporter for almost 50 years covering a wide variety of stories from the 1977 death of Elvis Presley and the 1978 police and fire strikes to numerous political campaigns, every county mayor and every Memphis Mayor starting with Wyeth Chandler.
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