Reaching Washington used to be the pinnacle of a politician’s career. But increasingly, being one of 100 senators in a deeply polarized chamber is no longer as appealing as it once was.
That may explain why at least three sitting senators are eying runs back home for governor in 2026. While the pipeline from state capitals to the U.S. capitol makes sense given the prestige of being a senator, so too does the apparent reversal in this current age of politics. If all three potential candidates run, it would be the first time in at least 90 years that a trio of sitting senators have run for governor. A 2021 study by the University of Minnesota’s Smart Politics found that since the turn of the 20th century, the number of governors running for the U.S. Senate has outnumbered the inverse by a seven-to-one ratio. Today, in fact, there are a dozen current senators who once served their states as governor.
Tennessee Sen. Marsha Blackburn is expected to enter the state’s GOP primary for governor, and she would be the instant
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The Cook Political Report is an independent, non-partisan newsletter that analyzes elections and campaigns for the US House of Representatives, US Senate, Governors and President as well as American political trends.
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