If U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn is elected governor of Tennessee in November, someone will be appointed to replace her in the Senate.
That someone then will serve until the next regular November election, when someone would be elected to fill out the remainder of her term, which ends in 2030.
A recent Spry Strategies survey of mostly conservative voters suggests if Blackburn is given the opportunity to appoint her successor, respondents are unsure who should be appointed or don’t want to say. Indeed, nearly a majority (47%) answered that way.
That either says they truly haven’t thought about the possibility or aren’t enamored of the choices she might have.
The latter would not be good news for U.S. Rep. Chuck Fleischmann, R-Ooltewah, who has expressed interest in the seat, or for that matter U.S. Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Knoxville or former Knox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs, both of whom have said they wouldn’t mind the job.