Senate Race in Tennessee: Hagerty, Democratic Field, and Key Dates

The 2026 Tennessee Senate race pits Republican incumbent Bill Hagerty, running unopposed in his primary with a Donald Trump endorsement, against one of five Democrats competing for their party’s nomination. Every major nonpartisan forecaster rates the seat as safely Republican, and Hagerty enters the general election with a commanding financial and structural advantage in a state Cook Political Report scores at R+14.¹

Bill Hagerty Runs Unopposed on the Republican Side

Hagerty filed for a second term on January 16, 2026, announcing on X and following with a formal press release on February 11.² “It has been the honor of my lifetime to serve the men and women of Tennessee,” he said in the release.³ After the March 10 filing deadline, the Tennessee Secretary of State’s finalized candidate list confirmed no Republican challenger.⁴

Hagerty carries Trump’s endorsement for the second consecutive cycle.⁵ His campaign reported roughly $5.8 million in total receipts for the 2025–2026 cycle through March 31, 2026, with $5.7 million in cash on hand and no debt.⁶ Finance, insurance, and real estate contributed about $1.65 million, his largest sector.⁷ None of the Democratic challengers have reported significant fundraising.

Five Democrats Filed for the Primary

Five Democrats filed before the March 10 deadline, according to the Tennessee Secretary of State. The list includes Civil Miller Watkins and Maria Brewer.⁴ FEC records also show Marquita Bradshaw and Diana Onyejiaka with filed statements of candidacy.⁸

Bradshaw is the most familiar name in the field. She was the Democratic nominee in 2020, when she became the first African American woman to be a major party’s U.S. Senate nominee in Tennessee, winning the primary after raising roughly $20,000 before losing decisively to Hagerty in November.⁹ Her 2026 campaign is active and raising through ActBlue, with messaging built around “leadership for safe and healthy communities.”¹⁰

Onyejiaka filed her FEC statement of candidacy in January 2026, with no financial activity reported as of the most recent data available.¹¹ Little public information is available on the remaining filers.

Why Forecasters Call the Race for Hagerty

Tennessee is deeply Republican. Cook rates the seat “Solid R,” and Republicans hold supermajorities in both chambers of the state legislature: 75–24 in the House and 27–6 in the Senate.¹¹²

Hagerty won 62.2 percent in his 2020 general election.¹ The strongest statewide showing by a Tennessee Democrat in recent memory came in 2018, when former Governor Phil Bredesen took 45 percent against Marsha Blackburn and still lost by double digits. A 2025 special election for a Middle Tennessee U.S. House seat gave the Democratic nominee 45 percent, a seven-point improvement on Kamala Harris’s 2024 margin in that district, but nothing approaching the swing a statewide Democrat would need.¹²

What Tennessee Voters Say They Care About

Vanderbilt University polling conducted in 2025 and 2026 found personal economic stress as the dominant concern, with worry about grocery, housing, and utility costs cutting across party lines and income levels. Immigration policy, including debate over executive actions and deportation procedures, also ranks high. Voters are split on presidential power and the executive branch’s dealings with the courts, and broadly oppose federal funding cuts to key programs.¹³

On social questions, 2024 polling found slightly more than half of Tennessee voters identifying as pro-choice, with bipartisan support for IVF access and for some gun-control measures. More than half said they believe the country is on the wrong track.¹³

Key Dates

Filing deadline: March 10, 2026 (passed).
Primary election: August 6, 2026.¹⁴
General election: November 3, 2026.¹⁴

1
Cook Political Report. 2026 Tennessee Senate Race
2
WVLT. Sen. Bill Hagerty Announces Run for Second Term as TN Senator
3
The Hill. Hagerty Announces Re-Election
4
Tennessee Lookout. Tennessee’s 2026 Candidate Lists Finalized for State and Federal Races
5
Local 3 News. Sen. Bill Hagerty Announces 2026 Re-Election Bid With President Trump’s Endorsement
6
OpenSecrets. Bill Hagerty Summary
7
OpenSecrets. Bill Hagerty Industries
8
Federal Election Commission. 2026 Senate Election – Tennessee
9
Tennessee Lookout. Election Coverage 2020
10
Marquita Bradshaw. Marquita Bradshaw for U.S. Senate
11
Federal Election Commission. Diana Onyejiaka Candidate Profile
12
Tennessee Lookout. Election 2026: The Tennessee House and Senate Races Potentially in Play
13
Vanderbilt University. Vanderbilt Poll
14
Tennessee Secretary of State. Elections Calendar