The following Bottom Lines have been updated following this week's Tennessee primary.

TENNESSEE SENATE:

This Republican-held open seat is far more competitive than the heavily GOP tilt of this state would suggest it should be. The Republican nominee is U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn, who easily won the primary 85 percent of the vote. She has represented the 7th congressional district based in the western suburbs of Nashville and Clarksville since 2002. She is a staunch conservative who has embraced President Trump and his policies. Democrats got the strongest possible candidate they could have hoped for in former Gov. Phil Bredesen, who easily won his party’s nomination with 92 percent of the vote. Bredesen spent eight years as the Mayor of Nashville followed by two terms as Governor where he earned a reputation for governing from the center. There were four polls released in June and July; Blackburn was ahead in two and Bredesen led in the other two. The takeaway is that this remains a very close race in a very unlikely state. The contest is in the Toss

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