#USMidterms: Candidate, endorsed by Taylor Swift, loses to Trump ally

By Shalini Ojha

Nov 07, 2018

05:11 pm

What's the story

Former Gov. Phil Bredesen lost the crucial US Senate seat of Tennessee to Republican Marsha Blackburn despite being endorsed by pop star Taylor Swift. In the closely watched election, Bredesen lost to Blackburn, making her the first woman Senator of Tennessee. The seat was vacated after Sen. Bob Corker announced he would not seek a re-election. Blackburn's win gave a major push to Republicans.

The support

Taylor said Blackburn's conservative views were scary

The hotly contested seat got widespread attention after Taylor supported Bredesen. She posted an image on Instagram, where she has 112 million followers, backing Bredesen for the Senate. The 28-year-old, a native of Tennessee, said Blackburn's conservative views on women and LGBT+ community appalled her. "Her voting record in Congress appalls and terrifies me," she wrote.

The defense

Mike Huckabee said Taylor's views won't affect elections

In her defense, Blackburn said she worked on the Music Modernization Act and Taylor would benefit from it. Taylor, who has chosen political silence in the past, irked quite a few with her words. Mike Huckabee, the former Arkansas governor and father of Trump's press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, tweeted Taylor's views wouldn't impact elections till 13-year-old girls were allowed to vote.

Instagram Post

Taylor makes her support for Bredesen clear

⬆️These two Tennessee women⬆️ voted for the candidate who has proven himself to be reasonable and trustworthy. We want leadership, not fear-based extremism. Early voting goes til Thursday and Election Day is November 6. Please don’t sit this one out.

A post shared by taylorswift on Oct 30, 2018 at 10:37am PDT

Vote, vote, vote

Interestingly, thousands registered to vote after Taylor's Instagram post

While Taylor may have failed to swing elections in Bredesen's favor, she managed to make a dent in voters turn out. After she urged fans to get registered on Vote.org, the website saw a surplus of new registrations. "We are up to 65,000 registrations in a single 24-hour period since Swift's post," said Vote.org's official. In the entire month of August, 56,669 voters registered.

Instagram Post

The post which increased voter registration

I’m writing this post about the upcoming midterm elections on November 6th, in which I’ll be voting in the state of Tennessee. In the past I’ve been reluctant to publicly voice my political opinions, but due to several events in my life and in the world in the past two years, I feel very differently about that now. I always have and always will cast my vote based on which candidate will protect and fight for the human rights I believe we all deserve in this country. I believe in the fight for LGBTQ rights, and that any form of discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender is WRONG. I believe that the systemic racism we still see in this country towards people of color is terrifying, sickening and prevalent. I cannot vote for someone who will not be willing to fight for dignity for ALL Americans, no matter their skin color, gender or who they love. Running for Senate in the state of Tennessee is a woman named Marsha Blackburn. As much as I have in the past and would like to continue voting for women in office, I cannot support Marsha Blackburn. Her voting record in Congress appalls and terrifies me. She voted against equal pay for women. She voted against the Reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act, which attempts to protect women from domestic violence, stalking, and date rape. She believes businesses have a right to refuse service to gay couples. She also believes they should not have the right to marry. These are not MY Tennessee values. I will be voting for Phil Bredesen for Senate and Jim Cooper for House of Representatives. Please, please educate yourself on the candidates running in your state and vote based on who most closely represents your values. For a lot of us, we may never find a candidate or party with whom we agree 100% on every issue, but we have to vote anyway. So many intelligent, thoughtful, self-possessed people have turned 18 in the past two years and now have the right and privilege to make their vote count. But first you need to register, which is quick and easy to do. October 9th is the LAST DAY to register to vote in the state of TN. Go to vote.org and you can find all the info. Happy Voting! 🗳😃🌈

A post shared by taylorswift on Oct 7, 2018 at 4:33pm PDT

The senator

Meanwhile, Blackburn creates history in Tennessee

Blackburn, an eight-term member of Congress, announced she is wildly conservative, is politically incorrect and is proud of it. She has been vocal about issues like abortion, gun control, immigration, overturning Obamacare and 'building the wall'. "The invading force approaching our southern border is seeking to enter the country the wrong way," she wrote in an op-ed recently.

Trump's support

Blackburn said people want to see things get done

Notably, Tennessee traditionally votes red. President Donald Trump won the state in 2016 by 26 points. Blackburn campaigned throughout as a staunch ally of Trump. "What Tennesseans want to see is someone who is going to be there to support President Trump and somebody that is going to get things done that they want to see done," she told BuzzFeed News.