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Former Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen, a Democrat, is leading Republican Rep. Marsha Blackburn by double digits going into the Senate race to replace retiring Sen. Bob Corker, according to a poll released Thursday. The poll, conducted by Middle Tennessee State University, shows 45% of registered voters favor Bredesen, while just 35% would back Blackburn. In addition, 17% are undecided. For registered independents, preference for Bredesen over Blackburn increases to 12 points. A fifth of Republican respondents would cross the aisle and vote for Bredesen, compared to just five percent of Democrats who would do so for Blackburn. Blackburn's poor performance...

Full Title: EXCLUSIVE: Another Poll Shows Marsha Blackburn with Big Lead Over Bob Corker Among Tennessee GOP Primary Voters Another recent poll obtained by Breitbart News shows that Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN-07) has a big lead over Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN) among Tennessee Republican primary voters. The poll, conducted by Ragnar Research Associates for American Future Fund Political Action, shows Blackburn has a commanding 19 point lead, 48 percent to 29 percent, over Corker in a potential head-to-head matchup for the August 2018 GOP U.S. Senate primary in Tennessee. The poll was conducted between February 14 and February 19 of...

Miller suggested that given Corker’s newfound willingness to criticize the Trump and his reluctance to support his agenda, Corker should step aside and allow Gov. Bill Haslam (R-TN) to appoint Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), who announced she would seek that seat in the U.S. Senate last week.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – Republican Rep. Marsha Blackburn’s Senate campaign announcement ad is being blocked by Twitter over a statement the abortion rights opponent makes about the sale of fetal tissue for medical research. Blackburn in the ad boasts that she “stopped the sale of baby body parts.” Twitter found that statement to be inflammatory and “likely to evoke a strong negative reaction.”

...Senator Bob Corker ... deserves credit for saying ... what ... prominent Republicans have known ... Namely: that Donald Trump is irrational, ill-informed, impulsive, unfit for command, and increasingly a danger to the country and the world. “I know for a fact that every single day at the White House, it’s a situation of trying to contain him[.]” ...[the "responsible" GOPeers] consider him intellectually unaware of the cliffs toward which he is steering the country, and temperamentally unable to exercise anything like mature judgment.

Senator Bob Corker "begged" me to endorse him for re-election in Tennessee. I said "NO" and he dropped out (said he could not win without... ..my endorsement). He also wanted to be Secretary of State, I said "NO THANKS." He is also largely responsible for the horrendous Iran Deal! ...Hence, I would fully expect Corker to be a negative voice and stand in the way of our great agenda. Didn't have the guts to run!

Blackburn unveiled her plans in an online video. She called herself “a hardcore card-carrying Tennessee conservative” and cited the “totally dysfunctional” nature of the Senate as her reason for running. She leveled unsparing criticism at her would-be Senate colleagues for their inability to repeal ObamaCare.

Minutes after learning that Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) won’t seek reelection, Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) told The Hill on Tuesday she’s considering running for his Senate seat in 2018. “Yes,” Blackburn said when asked if she's taking a look at the Senate race. Blackburn said colleagues told her about Corker's retirement during votes on the House floor. The Senate Foreign Relations chairman did not give his delegation any advanced notice of his decision, lawmakers said.

Senator Bob Corker announces plans to leave the United State Senate. The following is a statement from him: “After much thought, consideration and family discussion over the past year, Elizabeth and I have decided that I will leave the United States Senate when my term expires at the end of 2018. “When I ran for the Senate in 2006, I told people that I couldn’t imagine serving for more than two terms. Understandably, as we have gained influence, that decision has become more difficult. But I have always been drawn to the citizen legislator model, and while I realize it...

FR won't allow links to sources, but Corker just announced he won't seek reelection.

When Tennessee Sen. Bob Corker asked President Donald Trump to campaign for Alabama Sen. Luther Strange ahead of next week’s Senate Republican runoff, he might have had a little self-preservation in mind. A win by Roy Moore, the controversial former Alabama Supreme Court chief justice, would throw a wrench into the deliberative body in which the moderate Tennessee Republican serves. But a Moore victory could also embolden primary challengers to other sitting senators, like Corker. Corker said Tuesday he hasn’t yet reached a decision about seeking a third term, and he wouldn’t comment on reports that Trump asked him to...

Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) is considering whether to run for reelection or retire, he said Monday, drawing fresh attention to a dilemma with far-reaching implications for his party. Corker is an influential Republican who at times has clashed with President Trump. If he retires, it would probably put a seat that analysts expect to stay in GOP hands into a more uncertain state. It would also mark the end of the tenure of a well-respected member of the Republican Party’s mainstream governing wing, which has frequently collided with Trump and his nationalist, populist allies.

A Republican senator who was once on Donald Trump's short list for a Cabinet spot but has since feuded with the president could be targeted by a primary challenger backed by Steve Bannon. Trump's former chief strategist is seeking primary challenges to several GOP senators, including Sen. Bob Corker, of Tennessee, the chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, according to Politico and CNN.

Former state Rep. Joe Carr is laying the foundation to run against Sen. Bob Corker of Tennessee in the Republican primary next year, accusing the incumbent of being too reluctant to back President Trump’s agenda. He’s formed a political action committee dubbed “Stand Firm America” that raised $500,000 over the last three weeks, in what Mr. Carr said is an early show of support. Mr. Carr becomes the latest insurgent hoping to use Mr. Trump as a cudgel in a Republican primary, making the president a critical dividing line within the GOP. “There is a great opportunity for someone like...

Senator Bob Corker was greeted Friday morning with another withering rebuke by President Trump, in response to a series of criticisms hailed at the President over the past ten days, for which Corker – who is up for re-election by Trump-friendly Tennesseans next year – staunchly “stands by.” Meanwhile, State Senator Mark Green’s (R-Clarksville) refusal to rule out a run against the struggling incumbent could signal re-consideration to challenge to Corker in the 2018 Republican primary. “I’ve already told Senator Corker my thoughts about his comments about the President and that’s as far as I intend to go at this point,”...

Conservative activists in Tennessee are unhappy with Sen. Bob Corker and prepared to put their money and manpower behind a strong Republican primary challenger if one emerges. Mark Green, the state senator who was President Trump's first choice for Army secretary, is their preferred candidate. Green is weighing a 2018 bid, and is the sort of formidable candidate who could clear the field of other Republicans eying the race. That's important, because Tennessee's conservative power brokers, led by wealthy Nashville automobile dealer Lee Beaman, aren't interested in waging a quixotic battle against Corker. They want to back a winner. But...