Few things united Tennessee like the Paris Olympics . Nashville had two local superstars, sisters Alex and Gretchen Walsh , vying for medals in the pool, while Chattanooga’s Olivia Reeves brought weightlifting gold back to the U.S.
for the first time in 24 years. Rather than focus on the athletes who won, Republican incumbent U.S.
Sen. Marsha Blackburn paid thousands of dollars to put anti-trans activist Riley Gaines in front of constituents. It was the closest Gaines, a former University of Kentucky swimmer, has ever made it to the international podium.
She raced (and lost to) hundreds of women in her collegiate career, but has built a new, lucrative career in the GOP culture war obsessing over one opponent: trans swimmer Lia Thomas, whom Gaines tied for fifth place in the 2022 NCAA 200-meter freestyle championships. Republicans Outraise Democrats in Federal Races Blackburn takes PAC money from corporate CEOs; Barry and Green spend money on TV ad battle Blackburn ad buys began in July. Currently wrapping up her first term in the U.
S. Senate — she served as Tennessee’s 7th Congressional District rep in the U.S.
House before that, from 2003 to 2019 — Blackburn has a formidable fundraising operation, raising more than $16 million as of Oct. 1. She has efficiently converted corporate PAC dollars into massive media purchases throughout the late summer and early fall.
Blackburn’s preferred firm, the D.C.-based Smart Media Group, has billed more than $2 million on the cam.