{"campaigns":[{"candidatename":"Hastina Robinson","chatgptsummary":null,"notes":"","party":"","person":{"biography":"## Background and education\nHastina Robinson was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She graduated from Southwest Community College and the Community College of Allegheny County in 1996.\n\n## Career\nRobinson has worked as a firefighter, EMT, substance abuse counselor, and mental health advocate. She has been affiliated with GJT Housing.\n\n## Documented disputes and controversies\nRobinson has engaged in community service, particularly in mental health and substance abuse advocacy, contributing to housing stability and access through her work with GJT Housing.\n\n## Sources\n[Robinson's Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/HastinaRobinsonForSenate/)\n\n[Ballotpedia Biography](https://ballotpedia.org/Hastina_Robinson)\n","firstname":"Hastina","lastname":"Robinson","middlename":null,"suffix":null,"token":"vRsonRhNDN"},"token":"hastina_robinson"},{"candidatename":"Marsha Blackburn","chatgptsummary":null,"notes":"","party":"R","person":{"biography":"## Current office and 2026 campaign\nMarsha Blackburn is the senior U.S. Senator from Tennessee, serving since January 3, 2019, and is a candidate for Governor of Tennessee in the 2026 election [1]. She announced her campaign on August 6, 2025, becoming the third sitting U.S. senator to enter a 2026 gubernatorial race, and is considered the frontrunner in a Republican primary field that also includes U.S. Representatives John Rose and Mark Green, state Rep. Monty Fritts, and Secretary of State Tre Hargett; the primary is scheduled for August 6, 2026 [2][3]. She remains the sitting senator while running for governor.\n\n## Background and education\nBlackburn was born Mary Marsha Wedgeworth on June 6, 1952, in Laurel, Mississippi [4]. She graduated from Mississippi State University in 1973 with a Bachelor of Science in home economics, attending on a 4-H scholarship and serving as president of the Associated Women Students [5].\n\n## Career\nWhile at Mississippi State, Blackburn worked as a student sales manager for the Southwestern Company [5]. She later founded Marketing Strategies, a promotion and event-management firm, in 1978 [4]. She founded the Williamson County Young Republicans and chaired the county Republican Party from 1989 to 1991, then lost a 1992 bid for Tennessee's 6th Congressional District to incumbent Bart Gordon [4].\n\n## Office history\nBlackburn served in the Tennessee State Senate representing the 23rd district from 1999 to 2003, rising to minority whip [4]. She represented Tennessee's 7th Congressional District in the U.S. House from January 3, 2003, to January 3, 2019, winning reelection seven times [4]. She was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2018, defeating former Democratic Governor Phil Bredesen 54.7%-43.9%, and was reelected in 2024, defeating Democratic state Rep. Gloria Johnson 63.8%-34.2% [6][7]. Her committee assignments in the 119th Congress include Commerce, Science, and Transportation (chair, Subcommittee on Consumer Protection, Technology, and Data Privacy), Judiciary (chair, Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology, and the Law), Finance, and Veterans' Affairs [8].\n\n## Family\nBlackburn is married to Charles \"Chuck\" Blackburn; they have two children, Chad and Mary Morgan, and live in Brentwood, Tennessee [9].\n\n## Sources\n[1] [Marsha Blackburn - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marsha_Blackburn) - accessed 2026-07-06\n[2] [Marsha Blackburn becomes third U.S. senator to announce a 2026 gubernatorial bid - Ballotpedia News](https://news.ballotpedia.org/2025/08/15/marsha-blackburn-becomes-third-u-s-senator-to-announce-a-2026-gubernatorial-bid/) - accessed 2026-07-06\n[3] [2026 Tennessee gubernatorial election - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_Tennessee_gubernatorial_election) - accessed 2026-07-06\n[4] [Marsha Blackburn - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marsha_Blackburn) - accessed 2026-07-06\n[5] [Marsha Blackburn - Mississippi State University Libraries](https://www.library.msstate.edu/mpc/marsha-blackburn) - accessed 2026-07-06\n[6] [2018 United States Senate election in Tennessee - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2018_United_States_Senate_election_in_Tennessee) - accessed 2026-07-06\n[7] [2024 United States Senate election in Tennessee - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2024_United_States_Senate_election_in_Tennessee) - accessed 2026-07-06\n[8] [Committee Assignments - U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee](https://www.blackburn.senate.gov/committee-assignments) - accessed 2026-07-06\n[9] [Meet the Man Behind the Bow Tie & Author of \"Bow Tie Bible\" - Williamson Source](https://williamsonsource.com/meet-the-man-behind-the-bow-tie-and-author-of-bow-tie-bible/) - accessed 2026-07-06","firstname":"Marsha","lastname":"Blackburn","middlename":null,"suffix":null,"token":"gS4KyRSN8B"},"token":"marsha_blackburn"},{"candidatename":"Gloria Johnson","chatgptsummary":null,"notes":"","party":"D","person":{"biography":"## Current office and 2026 campaign\nGloria Johnson is a Democratic member of the Tennessee House of Representatives for District 90 (Knoxville, Knox County), a seat she has held since November 8, 2022, and currently holds [1][2]. She is running for reelection in the Democratic primary scheduled for August 6, 2026 [1]. In 2024, while serving in the state House, she also ran for the U.S. Senate (Class 1) seat held by Republican incumbent Marsha Blackburn: Johnson won the Democratic primary on August 1, 2024, with about 70% of the vote, then lost the November 5, 2024 general election to Blackburn, 63.8%-34.2% [3][4].\n\n## Background and education\nJohnson was born May 25, 1962, in Denver, Colorado [1]. She earned a bachelor's degree in special education from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville [1].\n\n## Career\nJohnson worked for 27 years as a special education teacher, including at Knoxville's Central High School during a 2008 school shooting there [1]. She chaired the Knox County Democratic Party for two terms [1].\n\n## Office history\nJohnson first won a Tennessee House seat representing District 13 in 2012, lost reelection to Eddie Smith in 2014, defeated Smith to reclaim the seat in 2018, and was reelected in 2020. Following 2022 redistricting, she won the newly configured District 90 and has held it since [1].\n\n## Legislative record and accomplishments\nIn April 2023, Johnson joined Representatives Justin Jones and Justin Pearson in a gun-control protest on the House floor, using a bullhorn without recognition, three days after the Covenant School shooting in Nashville; the three became known as the \"Tennessee Three.\" Jones and Pearson were expelled by the Republican supermajority; Johnson survived her own expulsion vote by a single vote [1].\n\n## Sources\n[1] [Gloria Johnson (politician) - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gloria_Johnson_(politician)) - accessed 2026-07-06\n[2] [Representative Gloria Johnson - Tennessee General Assembly](https://wapp.capitol.tn.gov/apps/LegislatorInfo/member?district=h90) - accessed 2026-07-06\n[3] [2024 United States Senate election in Tennessee - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2024_United_States_Senate_election_in_Tennessee) - accessed 2026-07-06\n[4] [Marsha Blackburn tops Gloria Johnson, wins re-election - Nashville Banner](https://nashvillebanner.com/2024/11/05/marsha-blackburn-re-elected-senate-seat/) - accessed 2026-07-06","firstname":"Gloria","lastname":"Johnson","middlename":null,"suffix":null,"token":"gUCBjdX6mU"},"token":"gloria_johnson"},{"candidatename":"Pamela Jeanine \"P.\" Moses","chatgptsummary":null,"notes":"","party":"","person":{"biography":"## Current office and 2026 campaign\nPamela Jeanine \"P.\" Moses ran as an independent candidate for the U.S. Senate (Class 1) seat in Tennessee's 2024 general election, held November 5, 2024; she received 24,682 votes (0.82%) in a field topped by Republican incumbent Marsha Blackburn, who won with 63.8% [1]. Tennessee's certified 2026 candidate list for the redrawn 8th Congressional District also lists Moses as an independent candidate, alongside independents Adam D. Austill and Wendell \"Wells\" Blankenship, Republican incumbent David Kustoff, and several Democrats [2][3].\n\n## Background and education\nAccording to her Ballotpedia candidate profile, Moses was born in Kingsport, Tennessee, holds a high school diploma from Central Memphis High School, a bachelor's degree from the University of Tennessee (2000), and a graduate degree from Union University (2007) [4].\n\n## Career\nMoses describes herself as an organizer, musician, and human rights advocate, and founded the Memphis chapter of Black Lives Matter [4]. She ran for Mayor of Memphis in 2019 but was ruled ineligible for the ballot because of prior felony convictions [5].\n\n## Documented disputes and controversies\nIn 2015, Moses pleaded guilty to felony tampering with evidence, forgery, perjury, stalking, theft under $500, and escape, and was placed on seven years of probation; under Tennessee law those convictions made her permanently ineligible to vote [6]. In 2019, while seeking to have her voting rights restored, a probation officer signed a certificate stating her probation had ended; a Tennessee Department of Correction review later found the officer had made this statement in error rather than because Moses had deceived him [6][7]. Moses registered and voted before the error was discovered. A jury convicted her in November 2021 of felony false entry on a voter-registration form, and Judge W. Mark Ward sentenced her on January 26, 2022, to six years and one day in prison [6][7].\n\nReporting found that prosecutors had withheld an internal Department of Correction document concerning the probation officer's error; based on that withheld evidence, Judge Ward granted Moses a new trial in February 2022 [7]. Moses had by then spent 82 days in custody. In April 2022, Shelby County District Attorney Amy Weirich dismissed the illegal-registration charge and an associated probation violation \"in the interest of judicial economy,\" stating that the time Moses had already served \"is sufficient\" [8][9]. Moses remains permanently barred from registering to vote or voting in Tennessee [8].\n\n## Sources\n[1] [2024 United States Senate election in Tennessee - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2024_United_States_Senate_election_in_Tennessee) - accessed 2026-07-06\n[2] [Tennessee's redrawn congressional districts: A full guide to every candidate running in 2026 - NewsChannel 5](https://www.newschannel5.com/news/tennessees-redrawn-congressional-districts-a-full-guide-to-every-candidate-running-in-2026) - accessed 2026-07-06\n[3] [Who's running where? Tennessee posts candidate list for redrawn congressional districts - WSMV](https://www.wsmv.com/2026/05/17/whos-running-where-tennessee-posts-candidate-list-redrawn-congressional-districts/) - accessed 2026-07-06\n[4] [Pamela Moses - Ballotpedia](https://ballotpedia.org/Pamela_Moses) - accessed 2026-07-06\n[5] [Pamela Moses, former Memphis mayoral candidate, indicates run for U.S. Senate - Tennessee Lookout](https://tennesseelookout.com/briefs/pamela-moses-former-memphis-mayoral-candidate-indicates-run-for-u-s-senate/) - accessed 2026-07-06\n[6] [Who Is Pamela Moses? Black Woman Sentenced to Prison for Trying To Vote - Newsweek](https://www.newsweek.com/who-pamela-moses-black-woman-sentenced-prison-trying-vote-1676197) - accessed 2026-07-06\n[7] [A New Trial For Pamela Moses in Voter Fraud Case - Interrogating Justice](https://interrogatingjustice.org/uncategorized/fairness-in-sentencing/a-new-trial-for-pamela-moses-in-voter-fraud-case/) - accessed 2026-07-06\n[8] [Charges dropped against woman jailed in Tennessee voter fraud case - UPI](https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2022/04/23/charges-dropped-voter-fraud-Pamela-Moses/4001650756969/) - accessed 2026-07-06\n[9] [Voting charges dropped against Pamela Moses - Tenn. D.A. gets 'pound of flesh' - Nashville PRIDE, Inc.](https://pridepublishinggroup.com/2022/04/30/voting-charges-dropped-against-pamela-mosestenn-d-a-gets-pound-of-flesh/) - accessed 2026-07-06","firstname":"Pamela","lastname":"Moses","middlename":"Jeanine","suffix":null,"token":"OSg1kqhJu4"},"token":"pamela_jeanine_p_moses"},{"candidatename":"Tharon Chandler","chatgptsummary":null,"notes":"","party":"","person":{"biography":"## Current office and 2026 campaign\n\nWilliam Tharon Chandler is an independent candidate running for election to the United States Senate from Tennessee in 2026 [1]. He appears on the ballot for the general election scheduled for November 3, 2026 [1]. The race is part of the broader 2026 United States Senate election in Tennessee, which will also include a primary election on August 6, 2026 [2].\n\nChandler, who identifies as an independent, has filed with the Federal Election Commission under candidate ID S4TN00583 [3]. He is a farmer from Lawrenceburg, Tennessee, and has previously sought statewide office as both an independent and a Democratic candidate [8]. His prior political history includes four runs for the U.S. House of Representatives in Tennessee since 2002, one run in Missouri in 2008, and a bid for the Tennessee House of Representatives in 2000 [6]. In 2016, he ran as a Democrat against Marsha Blackburn for Tennessee\u2019s 7th Congressional District [8].\n\nFor the 2026 Senate race, Chandler has not provided positions on key issues covered by Vote Smart's Political Courage Test [5]. The general election will feature incumbent Senator Bill Hagerty, who is seeking a second term [4].\n\n## Background and education\n\nWilliam Tharon Chandler was born on September 14, 1967, in Lawrenceburg, Tennessee [6]. He identifies as a Baptist [6]. Chandler attended Lawrence County High School, where he earned his high school diploma [1]. He later received a bachelor's degree in German and economics from Memphis State University in 1994 [1][8].\n\nChandler also completed graduate-level coursework in education at the University of Tennessee at Martin, the University of North Alabama, and Middle Tennessee State University [1]. Additionally, he attended the University of North Alabama for his undergraduate studies, where he studied German and economics [6].\n\n## Career\n\nWilliam Tharon Chandler was born in Lawrenceburg, Tennessee [1]. He attended Lawrence County High School and earned a bachelor\u2019s degree from Memphis State University in 1994 with a major in German and economics [1][6]. He also completed graduate-level coursework and studied education at the University of Tennessee at Martin, the University of North Alabama, and Middle Tennessee State University [1].\n\nChandler served in the U.S. Army from 1991 to 1991 [1]. Professionally, he self-describes as a farmer based in Lawrenceburg [8][9].\n\n## Office history\n\nTharon Chandler has not held any elected or appointed public office [1]. He served in the U.S. Army from 1991 to 1991 [1].\n\nChandler has run for numerous offices but has not won any elections. In 2000, he was a candidate for the Tennessee House of Representatives, District 70 [6]. In 2002, he ran for the U.S. House of Representatives in Tennessee\u2019s 4th Congressional District [6]. In 2008, he was a candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives in Missouri\u2019s 7th Congressional District [6]. He ran again for the U.S. House of Representatives in Tennessee\u2019s 4th Congressional District in 2022 [6]. In 2016, Chandler ran as a Democrat for the U.S. House of Representatives in Tennessee\u2019s 7th Congressional District [7][8]. He also ran for the U.S. Senate in Tennessee in 2020 and 2024 [6].\n\nChandler is currently an independent candidate for the U.S. Senate (Class 2) in Tennessee [1]. The general election for this seat is scheduled for November 3, 2026 [2][4].\n\n## Business interests and wealth source\n\nTharon Chandler self-describes as a farmer based in Lawrenceburg, Tennessee [8]. He holds a bachelor\u2019s degree in German and economics from Memphis State University, completed in 1994 [6]. Public records indicate he served in the U.S. Army from 1991 to 1991 [1].\n\nSpecific details regarding Chandler's business ownership stakes, sales of agricultural assets, or the specific sources of family wealth are not provided in the available public records [1]. Financial disclosure filings for the 2023\u20132024 period have not been processed or made publicly available by the Federal Election Commission at this time [3].\n\n## Sources\n[1] [Tharon Chandler - Ballotpedia](https://ballotpedia.org/Tharon_Chandler)\n[2] [United States Senate election in Tennessee, 2026 - Ballotpedia](https://ballotpedia.org/United_States_Senate_election_in_Tennessee,_2026)\n[3] [THARON CHANDLER - Candidate overview - FEC.gov](https://www.fec.gov/data/candidate/S4TN00583/)\n[4] [2026 United States Senate election in Tennessee - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_United_States_Senate_election_in_Tennessee)\n[5] [Vote Smart | Facts For All](https://justfacts.votesmart.org/candidate/political-courage-test/48955/tharon-chandler)\n[6] [Vote Smart | Facts For All](https://justfacts.votesmart.org/candidate/biography/48955/tharon-chandler)\n[7] [Tharon Chandler - Previously held position: 7th Congressional District of Tennessee (2016), Candidate - Biography | LegiStorm](https://www.legistorm.com/person/bio/307069/Tharon_Chandler.html)\n[8] [Tharon Chandler, U.S. Senate candidate in Tennessee - Nashville Banner](https://nashvillebanner.com/2024/07/20/candidate-tharon-chandler-us-senate/)\n[9] [William \u201cTharon\u201d Chandler Archives - Nashville Banner](https://nashvillebanner.com/tag/william-tharon-chandler/)","firstname":"Tharon","lastname":"Chandler","middlename":null,"suffix":null,"token":"Wtft5AHJKX"},"token":"tharon_chandler"}],"choices":null,"description":"","district":"tn","districtgroup":"state","districtgroupname":"State","districtname":"Tennessee","job_type":"us_senator","o.office":"senate_(class_1)","office":"senate_(class_1)","officedescription":"A United States Senator represents the entire state in the upper chamber of Congress, serving a six-year term. Senators write and pass federal law, approve federal spending, confirm federal judges and executive appointments, and ratify treaties.","officequalities":"- Legislative craft at the federal level: drafting and amending federal statute, and understanding the body of law being changed.\n- Statewide constituency understanding: the economic and everyday concerns of the whole state, not a single district.\n- Persuasion and coalition-building across party and factional lines to form working majorities.\n- Integrity: acting for constituents and the public good rather than personal gain, independent of undue influence.\n- Advice and consent: senators confirm federal judges and executive appointments and ratify treaties.","officeterm":6,"officetitle":"Senate (class 1)","partisan":1,"pgr":"general","quantity":1,"referendum":"","source":null,"title":"Senate (class 1)"}