Mark Humphrey/AP Photo; Mark Zaleski/AP Photo; Insider
Gov. Bill Lee is running against Democrat Jason Martin in Tennessee’s gubernatorial race.
Tennessee went for for Trump by 23 percentage points in the 2020 presidential election.
The race is one of 36 gubernatorial elections happening across the country.
Republican incumbent Gov. Bill Lee faces off against Democrat Jason Martin in Tennessee’s gubernatorial election.
Tennessee’s gubernatorial candidates
Lee’s running for reelection after finishing his first term in office, which began in 2019. Prior to becoming governor, he was the president of Lee Company, a group that was founded by his grandfather. A seventh-generation Tennesseean, Lee’s running on a platform focused on public safety, adding more jobs to the state, and reforming the state’s education system.
Martin, Lee’s challenger, is a physician running on a platform of expanding Medicaid access in the state, investing in the state’s education system, and improving the state’s “highways, bridges, sewer and stormwater systems.”
Tennessee’s voting history
Tennessee backed then-President Donald Trump by 23 percentage points in 2020. The blood-red state has sided with Republicans in the last six presidential elections, and Trump’s win in 2020 marked the fifth consecutive double-digit Republican victory.
What experts say
The race between Lee and Martin is rated as “solid Republican” by Inside Elections, “solid Republican” by The Cook Political Report, and “safe Republican” by Sabato’s Crystal Ball at the University of Virginia Center for Politics.