Clarksville, TN—The Montgomery County Democratic Party (MCDP) fully endorses Representative Gloria Johnson for US Senate. Johnson won the 2024 Democratic primary race on August 1 against Marquita Bradshaw, Civil Miller-Watkins and Lola Denise Brown, with more than 70% of the Democratic votes (statewide). She carried 66% of the Democratic votes in Montgomery County.
Following her primary victory, Johnson told supporters during her watch party, held in Memphis, “We’re building a movement here in Tennessee.”
She followed up by sending out fundraising requests for her continuing campaign with the statement that “the real fight begins now. Imagine a better future for Tennessee: Extremism? We’ll reject it. Reproductive rights? We’ll defend them. Our democracy? We’ll fight for it. Better opportunities for working families? You bet we’ll make it happen.”
Johnson (Knoxville) has served in the Tennessee House since 2012, fighting against the supermajority. She made headlines as the only member of the Tennessee Three to avoid expulsion in 2023, following the Covenant School shooting in Nashville. Rep. Johnson, who spent 27-years as a public-school special education teacher, fought for Medicaid expansion in 2015 under former Gov. Haslam. She seeks to protect women’s reproductive rights, fight for common sense gun safety laws, expand affordable health care in rural areas, lower medication costs, increase public school funding, and find solutions regarding the costs of housing and groceries.
In an interview with the Tennessean, Johnson said, “I’m running because it’s time to shift power back to where it belongs: with working families who want common sense solutions to the issues they face every day. I’m running to be a voice for Tennesseans who’ve felt left out and ignored by their elected representatives.”
Regarding her qualifications, she said, “I’ve always been a strong advocate for everyday working people, because that’s what I’ve been all my life, and I’m not afraid to stand up to bullies and special interests in order to do what’s right for Tennessee families. That’s something I have prided myself on as a State Representative, and will pride myself on in the U.S. Senate.”
Johnson will face off against incumbent Senator Marsha Blackburn in November. Blackburn, a proud MAGA Republican and chairperson of the GOP platform committee,
made headlines in 2022 for her line of questioning during Ketanji Brown Jackson’s Supreme Court confirmation hearings in which she asked Jackson to “provide a definition for the word ‘woman’ and accused her of attacking pro-life women. Blackburn, who spoke at the 2024 Republican National Convention, has held her current seat since 2019.
