Pence, Blackburn to attend conservative conference

In this Aug. 24, 2018, file photo, Rep. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., speaks at a summit on the opioid crisis put on by Healthy Tennessee in Nashville, Tenn.
In this Aug. 24, 2018, file photo, Rep. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., speaks at a summit on the opioid crisis put on by Healthy Tennessee in Nashville, Tenn.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Vice President Mike Pence will be one of the top guests at a conference for conservative leaders in Tennessee.

An event invitation says Pence will join Republican U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn and NRA lobbyist Chris Cox at the American Conservative Union Foundation's Conservative Political Action Conference 365 on Friday in Knoxville.

Blackburn is currently running for an open seat in the U.S. Senate and is a close ally of President Donald Trump's administration. Pence is scheduled to headline a Blackburn fundraiser the same day as the CPAC conference after attending a Chattanooga fundraiser in July.

Blackburn is running against Democratic ex-Gov. Phil Bredesen. Bredesen is running as an independent thinker who says he'd support Trump on ideas that would help Tennessee and oppose him on ones that wouldn't.

photo In this Aug. 24, 2018, file photo, Vice President Mike Pence gestures while speaking to the Republican National Lawyers Association in Washington.

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