China, Trump, outsiders and frustration: what the GOP candidates are asking voters to see

Before Tennessee Votes

by Brandon Burley

The Redemption Project Newsroom

Editor’s note: This article is part of TRP’s side-by-side series on Tennessee’s Republican and Democratic primaries for governor. Each installment applies the same civic question to both races while recognizing that the two primaries are not the same kind of contest.

Every campaign is trying to define the race before voters define it for themselves.

In Tennessee’s Republican primary for governor, the candidates are not only competing over policies. They are competing over identity, trust, experience and frustration with government.

U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn is leaning into national conservative credentials, Trump alignment, China, immigration and parental rights. U.S. Rep. John Rose is presenting himself as a conservative outsider, businessman and farmer who can gain ground when voters compare candidates. State Rep. Monty Fritts is running in a grassroots, constitutional-conservative lane built around frustration with the system and a willingness to appear in side-by-side formats.

Those are not just slogans.

They are campaign narratives.

Blackburn’s message begins with trust and familiarity. She entered the race with statewide name recognition, two recent statewide Senate victories and a national conservative profile. AP reported when Blackburn entered the race that she could become Tennessee’s first female governor and could run without risking her Senate seat after winning reelection in 2024

Her campaign also leans heavily on national conservative themes. Reuters reported that Blackburn launched as a Trump-aligned candidate, with messaging tied to immigration, conservative social policy and national Republican priorities.

In the final stretch, Blackburn’s campaign also moved toward China and land ownership. Her campaign released a July 8 television ad focused on China, communism and foreign ownership of Tennessee land. The ad drew national criticism over its imagery, including coverage from Yahoo and The Daily Beast.

That controversy should not swallow the whole race.

But the ad shows how Blackburn’s campaign is trying to define threat, identity and strength quickly. Campaign ads are not built to explain every policy detail. They are built to tell voters what to fear, whom to trust and what kind of leader the candidate wants to appear to be.

Rose is selling a different story.

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When Rose launched, AP reported that he described himself as a conservative outsider, small business owner and farmer. His early campaign themes included widening highways, emergency medical access, education, abortion opposition, gun rights, mental health resources and nuclear power expansion.

Rose’s campaign argument is also about exposure.

The late-June internal poll released by his campaign showed Blackburn still leading but by a smaller margin than earlier public polling. Full crosstabs were not public in the reporting reviewed, so the poll should not be treated as proof that the race has flipped. But it fits Rose’s larger narrative: the race changes when voters compare the candidates instead of relying only on name recognition.

Fritts is asking voters to see something else.

His lane is grassroots, East Tennessee, constitutional conservative and anti-establishment. The TRP intel packet describes him as financially outmatched but visible in comparison formats. He accepted TRP’s May 20 remote digital roundtable, while Blackburn and Rose did not respond to TRP’s invitation records. He also accepted the NewsChannel 5 July 20 debate, according to the station’s announcement.

That matters because Fritts’ campaign is not built around paid-media dominance.

It is built around presence, frustration and a claim that voters want a different kind of conservative.

Each campaign is trying to make Republican voters look at the race through a different lens.

Blackburn’s lens is trust.

Rose’s lens is comparison.

Fritts’ lens is frustration.

The voter’s job is to separate the story from the office.

A governor cannot govern only through identity. A governor has to run agencies, shape budgets, appoint leadership, respond to emergencies, work with the Legislature and make executive decisions that affect education, public safety, infrastructure, health care, economic development and local communities.

Campaign messages matter because they tell voters what a candidate wants emphasized.

But they are not enough.

Voters should ask which message is backed by records, plans, governing experience and a clear understanding of what the governor can actually do.

Campaigns sell stories.

Voters should ask which story is backed by the powers of the office.

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I am a retired detective and criminal justice / government educator based in Tennessee. I am a commentary write for Tennessee Lookout and a weekly columnist with Knox TN Today. My work examines public policy, public safety systems and civic responsibility. My reporting and commentary have also appeared in Governing, The Arizona Capitol Times, South Florida Sun Sentinel, Police1, among other state and regional outlets.

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