House Republican Planning Future Senate Run

Punchbowl News: Tim Burchett plans to run for US Senate

Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.) is angling hard for the appointment to Sen. Marsha Blackburn’s (R-Tenn.) seat if she’s elected governor in deep-red Tennessee.

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Blackburn, the favorite in the Tennessee gubernatorial race, has said she intends to appoint her own successor to the Senate. There’s no precedent, though, and a lot of legal questions surround such a move.

Blackburn hasn’t weighed in publicly on who she’s considering. Blackburn told the Nashville Banner that it would be “inappropriate” to do so, and her campaign didn’t respond to our request for comment.

Blackburn was reelected to the Senate in 2024 and has four years left in her term. The Senate appointee would fill the seat until a successor is elected to serve out the rest of Blackburn’s term in the 2028 general election, per Tennessee law. An election for a full Senate term would be held in 2030. The appointee could run in those elections.

Why the Senate? Burchett and Blackburn have known one another for more than two decades and served together in the Tennessee state legislature. Burchett has been campaigning extensively with Blackburn throughout Tennessee this cycle in over 60 counties, he said.

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