President Donald Trump has weighed in on three 2026 East Tennessee Republican primaries, but not the one where politics lovers are holding their breath.
Trump endorsed Republican U.S. Reps. Diana Harshbarger in District 1, Tim Burchett in District 2 and Chuck Fleischmann in District 3.
But what about the governor’s race?
The two frontrunners in the GOP primary to replace term-limited Gov. Bill Lee ‒ Sen. Marsha Blackburn and Rep. John Rose ‒ are both strong allies of Trump. Both benefitted from his endorsement during their 2024 reelections.
“I would love to have the president’s endorsement,” Blackburn told me Oct. 24. “We’re working hard every day to make certain that we do.”
Candidates have until Feb. 19 to enter the race.
Blackburn and Rose have different approaches: Blackburn has made her support of Trump a major point of her campaign, highlighting efforts out of Washington that Tennessee capitalizes on and featuring the president in her debut campaign advertisement. Rose mentions his support of Trump while campaigning, but has consistently shifted the focus of conversation and interviews away from Washington.
“Tennessee is at a crossroads and now we get to have a 365-day conversation about who would make the best CEO of the state,” Chris Devany, Rose’s campaign manager, said Aug. 6. “Senator Blackburn is going to talk a lot about Washington. John is going to talk about his record as a CEO, an outsider, and a reformer.”
If one candidate is more heavily catering to Trump’s message, what’s slowing down his endorsement? Let’s take a look.
Narrow GOP majorities: A Trump endorsement could make a difference with Tennessee voters and have ripple effects in Washington.
Until 2026, House Republicans have a fragile majority. Rose is a member of that tiny majority and if Trump endorses Blackburn, Rose could theoretically be less inclined to support Trump policies.
Of course, the same could go for Blackburn. If Trump endorses Rose, she could be less supportive in the Senate, where Republicans also have a very narrow majority over Democrats.
Two-thirds of the endorsed House incumbents don’t have GOP challengers: As of now, Burchett and Fleischmann and are running unopposed in their primaries. Harshbarger has one, Danny Gibson, according to the Federal Election Commission. It’s easy to make an endorsement when there’s only one choice.
Or…
Trump may just stay out of it: Trump said in August that though he’ll “probably be forced to” make an endorsement in Tennessee’s gubernatorial primary, he wishes he didn’t have to, USA TODAY Network reported.
Precedent shows Trump may stay quiet. The president didn’t make an endorsement in the 2018 GOP primary. Instead, he congratulated Lee after his surprise primary victory and endorsed him in the general election against former Democratic Nashville mayor Karl Dean.
Competitive Knox County Commission District 3 has a Democratic candidate
One of the more competitive local races on voters’ 2026 ballots, Knox County Commission District 3, has a Democratic candidate. 29-year-old mortgage lender Brandon Huckaby is running for the seat occupied by Republican Commissioner Gina Oster.
Assuming Huckaby gets the Democratic nomination in the May primary election, he’ll face the winner of the GOP primary between Oster, a real estate agent, and Sheri Super, a retired real estate agent.
Where is District 3? District 3 includes West Knox County neighborhoods like Amherst, Ball Camp and Cedar Bluff.
Who is Huckaby? Huckaby is vice president of Keep Knoxville Beautiful’s board and chairs the education committee of the Farragut West Knoxville Chamber of Commerce.
“Huckaby decided to run after watching the County Commission’s GOP majority increasingly bend towards extremism and national political issues,” Jack Vaughan, Huckaby’s campaign manager, wrote in a release. “He intends to bring our local government back to basics: addressing the housing affordability crisis, delivering on infrastructure needs, expanding economic opportunity and strengthening public education.”
What happens in the GOP primary will shape the tone of the general election: Republican voters have two different types of candidates running in the primary.
Oster has established herself as a constituent services-focused leader on the commission and has said she wants to keep the focus of her campaign on constituent issues. Super is focused on preventing high-density development and preventing Democratic colleagues from gaining more ground on the commission.
Why is District 3 competitive? In 2022, Oster beat her Democratic opponent by just 87 votes and in 2024, Democratic Knox County Board of Education member Patricia Fontenot-Ridley beat her Republican opponent by 263.
Want to talk economic development and civic engagement and Chilhowee Park?
Community groups are coming together to host a meeting to talk through issues at the heart of local politics in neighborhoods east of downtown Knoxville.
“Talk openly, share opinion and ask burning questions,” a meeting flyer says.
Topics of discussion: Economic development, civic engagement, Chilhowee Park redevelopment
Who’s hosting? City Council Movement, Rescue Restoration, Vivian Shipe and Shora Foundation
When’s the meeting? 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Nov.15 at Mount Calvary, 1807 Dandridge Ave.
Speak your mind on I-40/I-75 improvements
Remember the $115 million of interstate improvements near Watt Road and Campbell Station Road announced last year?
Earlier this year, the Tennessee Department of Transportation started researching how to alleviate congestion in the area that will be used to guide improvements to the 17 miles of interstate from the the I-40/I-75 Interchange in Loudon County to the I-640 interchange west of Knoxville.
Now, TDOT wants community input to supplement its study.
What are the meetings? TDOT will host three interactive and informative open houses.
When are the meetings? All meeting are from 5-7 p.m.
Nov. 10 in the assembly hall of the Farragut Community Center, 239 Jamestowne Blvd., Farragut
Nov. 12 in the J.L. Goin Administration Building at Pellissippi State Community College, 10915 Hardin Valley Road, Knoxville
Nov. 13 in the community room at the Knoxville Public Works Center, 3131 Morris Ave., Knoxville
Study up: You can check out TDOT’s webpage about the project at tn.gov/tdot/projects/projects-region-1/west-knoxville-corridor.html or read Knox News’ reporting about it at knoxnews.com. Search “I-40, I-75.”
Closing the loop
Knoxville’s general election was last week! Here’s some of our coverage if you missed it:
Meet the Knoxville City Council winners
Why did the Knoxville sales tax increase referendum perform so poorly?
What does Denzel Grant’s win say about voters in Knoxville City Council District 6?
5 things you may have missed
Here are five news highlights from last week:
She also wrote about major improvements coming to McGhee Tyson Airport
Hayden Dunbar looked into Ijams Nature Center’s master plan
Allie Feinberg is the politics reporter for Knox News. Email: allie.feinberg@knoxnews.com; Reddit: u/KnoxNewsAllie
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Trump hasn’t made an endorsement in the 2026 GOP governor primary