U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn. (Photo: John Partipilo/Tennessee Lookout)

U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn holds a significant lead over U.S. Rep. John Rose in the 2026 Republican primary for Tennessee governor, according to a poll released by the conservative think tank Beacon Center.

The Beacon poll gives Blackburn a 68% to 14% advantage among the 571 Republican voters the group polled from July 27 to August 1.

The poll was conducted before Blackburn officially announced her campaign at the start of August. Rose entered the campaign in March.

Early polling leads aren’t always an indication of who will win.

When Gov. Bill Lee ran in a five-person Republican primary in 2018, he trailed in polling until the campaign’s final weeks.

A March 2018 poll conducted by the Washington, D.C.-based Save t

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