Governor

Why this race matters

This is the 28th closest governor race in the forecast, 22.2 points, out of 36.

36 governor races are in the forecast (19 Democratic leads, 17 Republican leads). A governor's race does not decide control of Congress.

No incumbent is on the ballot.

No earlier forecast of this race is archived, so there is no previous projection, date, or reason to show.

History block in the model: R+27.8. That is the office blend, not one past election.

Last same-office result in the candidate file: 2022 R+32.0. A special on the 2026 ballot is not automatically that contest.

Polling block: R+15.7. The published result is still the county sum.

Counties

Every reporting unit in the race. Tap a county to open its precincts. The projected votes above are this table added up. They are not ballots cast.

Counties

County	Leader	Party	Margin	Vote share	Projected ↓
Shelby County	DJerri Green, DJerri Green	D	D+26.4	62.5%	247,552
Davidson County	DJerri Green, DJerri Green	D	D+34.3	66.5%	219,907
Knox County	RMarsha Blackburn, RMarsha Blackburn	R	R+13.8	56.2%	168,218
Hamilton County	RMarsha Blackburn, RMarsha Blackburn	R	R+9.8	54.2%	132,260
Rutherford County	RMarsha Blackburn, RMarsha Blackburn	R	R+16.0	57.3%	111,954
Williamson County	RMarsha Blackburn, RMarsha Blackburn	R	R+28.1	63.4%	109,688
Sumner County	RMarsha Blackburn, RMarsha Blackburn	R	R+35.7	67.2%	74,123
Montgomery County	RMarsha Blackburn, RMarsha Blackburn	R	R+12.4	55.5%	61,987
Wilson County	RMarsha Blackburn, RMarsha Blackburn	R	R+34.1	66.4%	61,607
Sullivan County	RMarsha Blackburn, RMarsha Blackburn	R	R+49.6	74.1%	57,276
Blount County	RMarsha Blackburn, RMarsha Blackburn	R	R+41.6	70.1%	52,486
Washington County	RMarsha Blackburn, RMarsha Blackburn	R	R+34.0	66.3%	46,428
Maury County	RMarsha Blackburn, RMarsha Blackburn	R	R+36.3	67.5%	39,495
Bradley County	RMarsha Blackburn, RMarsha Blackburn	R	R+54.5	76.6%	37,339
Sevier County	RMarsha Blackburn, RMarsha Blackburn	R	R+54.8	76.7%	33,338
Madison County	RMarsha Blackburn, RMarsha Blackburn	R	R+15.2	56.9%	30,301
Anderson County	RMarsha Blackburn, RMarsha Blackburn	R	R+27.1	62.9%	27,711
Robertson County	RMarsha Blackburn, RMarsha Blackburn	R	R+43.6	71.1%	26,590
Putnam County	RMarsha Blackburn, RMarsha Blackburn	R	R+39.0	68.8%	26,491
Cumberland County	RMarsha Blackburn, RMarsha Blackburn	R	R+54.2	76.4%	26,266
Loudon County	RMarsha Blackburn, RMarsha Blackburn	R	R+48.6	73.6%	25,179
Greene County	RMarsha Blackburn, RMarsha Blackburn	R	R+57.0	77.8%	23,576
Roane County	RMarsha Blackburn, RMarsha Blackburn	R	R+46.4	72.5%	20,784
Tipton County	RMarsha Blackburn, RMarsha Blackburn	R	R+46.9	72.8%	20,269
Hawkins County	RMarsha Blackburn, RMarsha Blackburn	R	R+61.0	79.8%	19,915
Jefferson County	RMarsha Blackburn, RMarsha Blackburn	R	R+56.7	77.7%	19,573
Hamblen County	RMarsha Blackburn, RMarsha Blackburn	R	R+52.0	75.3%	19,335
Dickson County	RMarsha Blackburn, RMarsha Blackburn	R	R+42.0	70.3%	19,110
Coffee County	RMarsha Blackburn, RMarsha Blackburn	R	R+46.5	72.6%	18,904
Carter County	RMarsha Blackburn, RMarsha Blackburn	R	R+56.8	77.7%	18,843
McMinn County	RMarsha Blackburn, RMarsha Blackburn	R	R+57.2	77.9%	18,252
Fayette County	RMarsha Blackburn, RMarsha Blackburn	R	R+39.7	69.1%	17,967
Monroe County	RMarsha Blackburn, RMarsha Blackburn	R	R+58.7	78.7%	16,925
Gibson County	RMarsha Blackburn, RMarsha Blackburn	R	R+45.2	71.9%	16,413
Cheatham County	RMarsha Blackburn, RMarsha Blackburn	R	R+38.0	68.3%	15,726
Bedford County	RMarsha Blackburn, RMarsha Blackburn	R	R+50.4	74.5%	15,232
Franklin County	RMarsha Blackburn, RMarsha Blackburn	R	R+43.1	70.9%	14,957
Lawrence County	RMarsha Blackburn, RMarsha Blackburn	R	R+58.7	78.7%	14,810
Warren County	RMarsha Blackburn, RMarsha Blackburn	R	R+44.7	71.7%	12,901
Lincoln County	RMarsha Blackburn, RMarsha Blackburn	R	R+57.7	78.2%	12,228
Marshall County	RMarsha Blackburn, RMarsha Blackburn	R	R+46.9	72.8%	12,103
Cocke County	RMarsha Blackburn, RMarsha Blackburn	R	R+59.3	79.0%	11,875
Campbell County	RMarsha Blackburn, RMarsha Blackburn	R	R+59.5	79.1%	11,773
Henry County	RMarsha Blackburn, RMarsha Blackburn	R	R+48.1	73.4%	11,431
Rhea County	RMarsha Blackburn, RMarsha Blackburn	R	R+60.6	79.6%	10,951
Dyer County	RMarsha Blackburn, RMarsha Blackburn	R	R+55.1	76.9%	10,913
Marion County	RMarsha Blackburn, RMarsha Blackburn	R	R+46.0	72.3%	10,564
Claiborne County	RMarsha Blackburn, RMarsha Blackburn	R	R+57.0	77.8%	7,440
Giles County	RMarsha Blackburn, RMarsha Blackburn	R	R+42.6	70.6%	7,413
Weakley County	RMarsha Blackburn, RMarsha Blackburn	R	R+47.0	72.8%	7,363
White County	RMarsha Blackburn, RMarsha Blackburn	R	R+53.8	76.2%	7,108
Obion County	RMarsha Blackburn, RMarsha Blackburn	R	R+54.3	76.4%	7,091
Hardin County	RMarsha Blackburn, RMarsha Blackburn	R	R+59.5	79.0%	6,649
Henderson County	RMarsha Blackburn, RMarsha Blackburn	R	R+58.5	78.6%	6,622
Carroll County	RMarsha Blackburn, RMarsha Blackburn	R	R+49.2	73.9%	6,532
McNairy County	RMarsha Blackburn, RMarsha Blackburn	R	R+55.5	77.1%	6,194
Grainger County	RMarsha Blackburn, RMarsha Blackburn	R	R+60.9	79.8%	6,118
Overton County	RMarsha Blackburn, RMarsha Blackburn	R	R+47.2	72.9%	6,085
Macon County	RMarsha Blackburn, RMarsha Blackburn	R	R+61.2	79.9%	5,680
Hickman County	RMarsha Blackburn, RMarsha Blackburn	R	R+46.4	72.5%	5,667
Fentress County	RMarsha Blackburn, RMarsha Blackburn	R	R+62.4	80.5%	5,371
Scott County	RMarsha Blackburn, RMarsha Blackburn	R	R+65.9	82.3%	5,280
Hardeman County	RMarsha Blackburn, RMarsha Blackburn	R	R+13.3	56.0%	5,166
DeKalb County	RMarsha Blackburn, RMarsha Blackburn	R	R+48.1	73.4%	5,165
Smith County	RMarsha Blackburn, RMarsha Blackburn	R	R+50.1	74.4%	5,132
Polk County	RMarsha Blackburn, RMarsha Blackburn	R	R+54.6	76.6%	4,798
Union County	RMarsha Blackburn, RMarsha Blackburn	R	R+57.1	77.9%	4,765
Morgan County	RMarsha Blackburn, RMarsha Blackburn	R	R+59.2	78.9%	4,706
Unicoi County	RMarsha Blackburn, RMarsha Blackburn	R	R+52.6	75.6%	4,695
Lauderdale County	RMarsha Blackburn, RMarsha Blackburn	R	R+25.7	62.2%	4,544
Humphreys County	RMarsha Blackburn, RMarsha Blackburn	R	R+39.2	68.9%	4,543
Johnson County	RMarsha Blackburn, RMarsha Blackburn	R	R+59.5	79.1%	4,454
Sequatchie County	RMarsha Blackburn, RMarsha Blackburn	R	R+54.6	76.6%	4,337
Chester County	RMarsha Blackburn, RMarsha Blackburn	R	R+55.0	76.8%	4,165
Haywood County	DJerri Green, DJerri Green	D	D+10.2	54.4%	4,035
Benton County	RMarsha Blackburn, RMarsha Blackburn	R	R+47.3	73.0%	3,991
Cannon County	RMarsha Blackburn, RMarsha Blackburn	R	R+52.0	75.3%	3,782
Wayne County	RMarsha Blackburn, RMarsha Blackburn	R	R+64.2	81.4%	3,755
Stewart County	RMarsha Blackburn, RMarsha Blackburn	R	R+48.1	73.4%	3,639
Grundy County	RMarsha Blackburn, RMarsha Blackburn	R	R+52.8	75.7%	3,478
Bledsoe County	RMarsha Blackburn, RMarsha Blackburn	R	R+58.1	78.4%	3,403
Meigs County	RMarsha Blackburn, RMarsha Blackburn	R	R+55.0	76.8%	3,352
Crockett County	RMarsha Blackburn, RMarsha Blackburn	R	R+48.8	73.7%	3,255
Lewis County	RMarsha Blackburn, RMarsha Blackburn	R	R+50.8	74.7%	3,238
Jackson County	RMarsha Blackburn, RMarsha Blackburn	R	R+44.7	71.7%	3,120
Decatur County	RMarsha Blackburn, RMarsha Blackburn	R	R+53.2	75.9%	3,004
Trousdale County	RMarsha Blackburn, RMarsha Blackburn	R	R+42.5	70.6%	2,337
Houston County	RMarsha Blackburn, RMarsha Blackburn	R	R+39.3	69.0%	2,095
Clay County	RMarsha Blackburn, RMarsha Blackburn	R	R+49.5	74.1%	2,067
Perry County	RMarsha Blackburn, RMarsha Blackburn	R	R+52.4	75.5%	2,042
Moore County	RMarsha Blackburn, RMarsha Blackburn	R	R+56.6	77.6%	2,008
Van Buren County	RMarsha Blackburn, RMarsha Blackburn	R	R+52.0	75.3%	1,795
Pickett County	RMarsha Blackburn, RMarsha Blackburn	R	R+51.8	75.2%	1,624
Hancock County	RMarsha Blackburn, RMarsha Blackburn	R	R+62.4	80.5%	1,599
Lake County	RMarsha Blackburn, RMarsha Blackburn	R	R+44.3	71.5%	1,066

Model

1. Raw data

   2024 presidential baseline

   National R−D 1.5

   County presidential file. Not the 2026 result.

2. Raw data

   Generic ballot

   D 51.7 R 43.1 R−D -8.6

   National Wikipedia aggregate, 2026-10-30. State generic ballots, where a public poll exists, are mixed with the national swing for a race that does not have its own poll: ME, MI, NH, NY, OH. A state with no generic-ballot poll keeps the national swing and is not assigned a neighbor's.

3. Raw data

   Party identification

   Pew D+5 and Gallup D+10, blend R−D -7.3

   Pew NPORS 2026, identifiers plus leaners: Republican 43, Democratic 48. Gallup party identification plus leaners, first two quarters of 2026: Democratic 49, Republican 39. Pew is 55% of this blend and Gallup is 45%.

4. Model input

   National block

   R−D -8.1

   60% generic ballot and 40% party identification. The swing versus the 2024 presidential margin is what gets transmitted.

5. Model input

   Swing transmitted

   1.10 × -9.5 = -10.5

   This race has its own poll. The swing in the history blocks, before they shrink toward that poll, is the national block minus the 2024 presidential margin. Elasticity is shrunk halfway toward 1.

6. Model input

   History block

   R−D 28.2

   Weights 2018 5 / 2024 35 / 2020 20 / 2022 16. If that office was on the ballot in 2022, that year takes the 40 and 2018 takes the 5. Otherwise 2018 keeps the 40. A missing year is filled with the 2020 result for the same office. Another office is not used. The year lines are Shelby County, the largest county, not the state total: 2018 D+23.7 w5, 2022 open seat D+19.7 w16. No incumbent is on the ballot, so the 2022 result keeps 40 percent of its usual weight and 40 percent of its gap versus the 2024 presidential margin. The prior nominee's margin is not the open-seat baseline. The state number above is the vote-weighted sum. A 2024 county map is not copied forward unchanged.

7. Model input

   Electorate block

   R−D 18.6

   History reweighted by usual midterm turnout, plus half of the transmitted swing. Rural and presidential-only counties still move farther when the result is spread back to counties. That spread is ballot size, not the demographic file. Published ballots are the 2018 midterm canvass for this office, split by these modeled shares. They are not the 2024 presidential vote. The 2026 early-vote count is not inside this margin.

8. Model input

   Turnout block

   R−D 22.0

   Each county is weighted by its 2018 ballots divided by its 2024 presidential ballots. Small counties shrink halfway toward the state median. 2020 mail shares are not used.

9. Model input

   National environment

   R−D 17.1

   History plus the full transmitted swing. With no poll of this race, that swing is the state generic ballot mixed with the national block, or the national block alone.

10. Model input

    State environment

    R−D 20.8

    History plus 45 percent of the transmitted swing. This is a Senate and governor weight.

11. Model input

    State partisan lean

    R−D 29.7

    The 2024 presidential margin of this state, or of this district for a House race. It is heavier than the old state-environment block and is not shrunk toward the polling term.

12. Model input

    Trump popularity

    R−D -4.1

    New York Times approval average, October 29, 2026: 37.4% approve, 60.2% disapprove. Net approval -22.800000000000004. That is not a vote share. Four-tenths of the net is a margin, then scaled by this place's partisan lean (factor 0.45), so an unpopular president costs more in a Democratic state.

13. Model input

    Candidate favorability

    R−D 0.0

    Open seat or no incumbent. Favorability is zero.

14. Model input

    Demographics

    R−D 15.3

    One statewide block only. A county that is more college-educated or more nonwhite than the other counties in this race takes more of the transmitted swing, and a more rural county takes less. That changes this block, at its weight. It does not choose which counties move when the margin is spread back out. That spread uses ballot size. The shares are the 2012–2016 American Community Survey and the 2010 Census, from the 2018 county election-context file. Alaska is not in that file.

15. Model input

    Finance

    R−D 23.9

    No sourced spending edge. The block is history, or history shrunk toward the poll. It is not a finance model.

16. Model input

    Issues

    R−D 23.9

    No sourced issue score. Same treatment as finance. It is not a separate issue model.

17. Model input

    Polling

    R−D 15.7

    Individual polls only, 15.7. No Wikipedia average row. Named support R−D 14.9. Allocated support R−D 15.7. Named support does not move. Only the undecided line is split, 57.5% Republican and 42.5% Democratic. That is the 2024 two-party Republican share 65.1 moved halfway to 50 and capped at 60/40. A minor-party line is not published as its own candidate. Banned individual rows excluded: 0. No same-office polling miss was sourced, so none is added. Applied to the polling term: 0.00. Public pollsters: 2. Outliers: 1. Recency half-life 16 days. Sample weight n/(n+350). A registered-voter poll is 0.90. An internal poll, or a poll sponsored by one party, is weighted 0. It is not in the average. An internal-only file is dropped. A poll that names both parties is not an internal. A poll more than 8 points from the median of the others is cut in half. Pollster quality nudges that weight by only a few percent. The same rule is used on a House poll. House district polls are likely-voter polls only.

18. Model input

    Generic ballot weight

    R−D 17.2

    The generic ballot stays in the blend next to the independent polls. It is not shrunk toward the poll and an internal does not replace it. Weight 9.5%.

19. Model input

    Top line

    Not a House term

    Senate and governor are the top line. They are not moved by themselves.

20. Model input

    Candidate

    R+0.00 added whole

    Open seat. No incumbency term. A negative popularity score is not added on top of the office baseline. No overperformance. An open seat, a scandal, or a missing incumbent gets none. These points are not watered down to the candidate weight. The candidate weight is a separate slice of the baseline. On a Senate or governor race with three public polls and no outlier, the points stop at that poll instead of moving past it.

21. Model input

    Scandal

    None

    No candidate on this ballot is scandal-defined.

22. Model input

    Endorsements

    R−D +0.30

    Trump endorsed Marsha Blackburn. The presidential lean here is R−D 29.7, so the endorsement helps 0.30. Ballotpedia, Endorsements by Donald Trump, 2026 tables, page updated August 5, 2026. A primary endorsement is counted when that person is the nominee. A lost primary, a candidate not on the ballot, and a withdrawn endorsement are not.

23. Model input

    Halfway floor

    Applied

    Presidential margin 29.7. A thin poll may not move the result more than halfway from the office baseline 28.2 to the polling term. Held at 22.0. One poll does not rewrite the race.

24. Model input

    Pooling

    35% of the way from each history block toward the polling term

    Otherwise the shrink is 35%.

25. Model input

    Prediction market

    94% win probability

    Marsha Blackburn 93.9% is a win probability, not a vote share. Republican win probability 93.9 from Kalshi 94.0% Republican; Polymarket 93.8% Republican. A price of 50 is a tie. Each point above 50 is 0.35 margin points, capped at 12, so the raw margin is 12.0. That margin is shrunk 40% toward the pre-market margin 22.3, which leaves 16.1. It enters once, at 5.0%. The polling term is not nudged. Books under $10,000 and primary markets are ignored.

26. Model input

    State bend

    None

    Not applied.

27. Model input

    State environment adjustment

    R−D +0.1

    The 2022 statewide margin was R−D 32.0 and the 2024 presidential margin was R−D 29.7. The country moved 1.4 from that presidential vote to the 2022 House vote. Fifteen percent of the difference is kept, capped at 1.5, so the state environment is 0.1 on top of the national swing.

28. Model input

    Early vote

    D+0.8

    No party is on the file. Ballots that match a 2024 presidential county sit at R−D 24.3. The 2024 vote in the same counties was R−D 29.7. The early mix is D+5.4 relative to that vote. Fifteen percent is kept, capped at 1, so D+0.8. This is where the ballots were cast. A more college-educated or more nonwhite county still takes more of the national swing in the demographics block, and a more rural county takes less. That block is separate from this point. This is not a count of how anyone voted, and not another model's estimate of the electorate.

29. Model input

    Other ratings

    R−D 11.3 at 3.0%

    Cook, Sabato, Inside Elections, and the other columns on the same published tables (Decision Desk HQ, RealClearPolitics, Split Ticket, FiftyPlusOne, The Economist, Fox News, Silver Bulletin). 7 ratings, average R−D 11.3. A toss-up is 0, tilt 1.5, lean 3.5, likely 7, safe or solid 12. If this race is already further to that side, the rating does not pull it back. Mixed in after everything else, at 3.0 percent. It does not replace the poll. A seat nobody has rated is left alone.

30. Model input

    Weights

    polling 20.7% · generic 8.8% · stateLean 12.5% · trump 9.4% · favorability 8.7% · history 6.4% · candidate 6.3% · electorate 3.9% · stateEnv 3.9% · national 3.9% · turnout 2.3% · demographics 2.3% · finance 1.6% · issues 1.7% · market 4.9% · ratings 3.0%

    History is lighter. State partisan lean, Trump popularity, and candidate favorability are their own terms. A market, when it qualifies, scales every other weight and is not taken out of polling alone. Published ratings, when a race has them, are mixed in after that. They are not taken out of polling alone.

31. County-sum margin

    22.2

    This is the sum of the county projections. Counties are not moved afterward to force this total.

32. Minor parties

    None

    Other is the 2024 presidential vote that was neither Democratic nor Republican, weighted by these counties. It is not the last forecast. A missing opponent is not Other. No Libertarian, Green, Constitution, or other minor line was on this ballot.

33. 80% interval

    13.7 to 30.9

    10th to 90th percentile of 50,000 draws. Poll, national, state, turnout, and candidate error.

34. 95% interval

    9.1 to 35.5

    2.5th to 97.5th percentile. Senate and governor state errors in the same state share a correlation of 0.30. The band shown is the marginal interval.