NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Tennessee voters will decide whether to reelect Republican U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn to a second term or choose Democratic state Rep. Gloria Johnson.
Tennessee hasn't elected a Democrat to a statewide position in nearly two decades, but Johnson is hoping her recent meteoric rise to fame from nearly being expelled by state lawmakers last year will woo enough voters.
Blackburn has run a much more subdued campaign compared to six years ago, when an open seat forced a heated race between the Republican and former Democratic Gov. Phil Bredesen. Blackburn has largely avoided Johnson throughout the campaign and declined to participate in any debates with the Democrat.
Johnson gained national attention when she joined fellow Democratic state Reps. Justin Pearson and Justin Jones as they walked to the front of the House floor with a bullhorn while hundreds of gun control advocates flooded the Capitol to show their support for putting more restrictions on firearms. The demonstration took place just days after a school shooting that killed 6 people, including three young children, at a private Christian elementary school in Nashville.
The violation of House protocols sparked outrage among Republican lawmakers, who demanded they be expelled — a punishment that had been used only a handful of times since Reconstruction.
The showdown between the Democratic lawmakers and the Republican supermajority attracted national attention, amplifying the profiles of the group — dubbed the “Tennessee Three” — across the U.S.
Johnson, 62, has been a critic of Blackburn’s policy positions, arguing that most Tennesseans want “common sense gun legislation” and better access to reproductive care. While on the campaign trail, Johnson also shared her own story of needing an abortion to save her life in light of Tennessee enacting a sweeping abortion ban that includes only a handful of narrow exemptions. Johnson has stressed that she likely would not have been able to make that same choice under the state's current ban.
Blackburn, 72, has opposed gun control measures throughout her political career. After repeatedly deflecting questions about whether she supports a national ban on abortion as she ran for reelection, Blackburn told WTVF-TV last month that she would oppose a federal ban, as well as any “federal government overreach that would interfere with that decision.”
Before Roe v. Wade was overturned, she repeatedly voted to advance a bill that would have banned abortion at 20 weeks.
Blackburn's 2018 win marked the first time a woman had been elected in Tennessee as a U.S. senator.
FILE - Tennessee Rep. Gloria Johnson, D-Knoxville, announces her candidacy to run for the U.S. Senate during an event, Sept. 5, 2023, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV, File)
FILE - Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., speaks during the first day of the Republican National Convention, on July 15, 2024, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The $1 million-a-day voter sweepstakes that Elon Musk 's political action committee is hosting in swing states can continue through Tuesday’s presidential election, a Pennsylvania judge ruled Monday.
Common Pleas Court Judge Angelo Foglietta — ruling after Musk’s lawyers said the winners are paid spokespeople and not chosen by chance — did not immediately explain his reasoning.
District Attorney Larry Krasner, a Democrat, had called the process a scam “designed to actually influence a national election” and asked that it be shut down.
Musk lawyer Chris Gober said the final two recipients before Tuesday's presidential election will be in Arizona on Monday and Michigan on Tuesday.
“The $1 million recipients are not chosen by chance," Gober said Monday. “We know exactly who will be announced as the $1 million recipient today and tomorrow.”
Chris Young, the director and treasurer of America PAC, testified that the recipients are vetted ahead of time, to “feel out their personality, (and) make sure they were someone whose values aligned” with the group.
Musk’s lawyers, defending the effort, called it “core political speech” given that participants sign a petition endorsing the U.S. Constitution. They also said Krasner's bid to shut it down under Pennsylvania law was moot because there would be no more Pennsylvania winners before the program ends Tuesday.
Krasner believes the giveaways violates state election law and contradict what Musk promised when he announced them during an appearance with Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump 's campaign in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, on Oct. 19: “We’re going to be awarding a million dollars randomly to people who have signed the petition every day from now until the election,” Musk vowed.
Young also acknowledged that the PAC made the recipients sign nondisclosure agreements.
“They couldn’t really reveal the truth about how they got the money, right?” Krasner lawyer John Summers asked.
“Sounds right,” Young said.
In an Oct. 20 social media post shown in court, Musk said anyone signing the petition had “a daily chance of winning $1M!”
Summers grilled him on Musk's use of both the words “chance” and “randomly," prompting Young to concede the latter was not “the word I would have selected.”
Young said the winners knew they would be called on stage but not specifically that they would win the money.
Musk did not attend the hearing. He has committed more than $70 million to the super PAC to help Trump and other Republicans win in November.
“This was all a political marketing masquerading as a lottery,” Krasner testified Monday. “That’s what it is. A grift.”
Lawyers for Musk and the PAC said they do not plan to extend the lottery beyond Tuesday. Krasner said the first three winners, starting on Oct. 19, came from Pennsylvania in the days leading up to the state's Oct. 21 voter registration deadline.
Other winners came from the battleground states of Wisconsin, Nevada, Arizona, Georgia, North Carolina and Michigan. It's not clear if anyone has yet received the money. The PAC pledged they would get it by Nov. 30, according to an exhibit shown in court.
More than 1 million people from the seven states have registered for the sweepstakes by signing a petition saying they support the right to free speech and to bear arms, the first two amendments to the U.S. Constitution. Krasner questioned how the PAC might use their data, which it will have on hand well past the election.
“They were scammed for their information,” Krasner said. “It has almost unlimited use.”
Krasner's team called Musk “the heartbeat of America PAC,” and the person announcing the winners and presenting the checks.
“He was the one who presented the checks, albeit large cardboard checks. We don’t really know if there are any real checks,” Summers said.
Foglietta presided over the case at Philadelphia City Hall after Musk and the PAC lost an effort to move it to federal court.
Krasner has said he could still consider criminal charges, as he’s tasked with protecting both lotteries and the integrity of elections.
Pennsylvania remains a key battleground state with 19 electoral votes and both Trump and Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris have repeatedly visited the state, including stops planned Monday in the final hours of the campaign.
Krasner — who noted that he has long driven a Tesla — said he could also seek civil damages for the Pennsylvania registrants. Musk is the CEO and largest shareholder of Tesla. He also owns the social media platform X, where America PAC has published posts on the sweepstakes, and the rocket ship maker SpaceX.
America PAC lawyer Chris Gober speaks with members of the media ahead of a hearing at a City Hall courtroom in Philadelphia, Monday, Nov. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner arrives for a hearing at a City Hall courtroom, in Philadelphia, Monday, Nov. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
America PAC lawyer Chris Gober speaks with members of the media ahead of a hearing at a City Hall courtroom in Philadelphia, Monday, Nov. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
Elon Musk speaks before Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump at a campaign rally at Madison Square Garden, Sunday, Oct. 27, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Elon Musk speaks before Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump at a campaign rally at Madison Square Garden, Sunday, Oct. 27, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
