美国国家公共电台 NPR Tennessee Could Be A Bright Spot For Republican Women In 2018

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RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

Democratic women are winning primaries this year at record numbers. In the next Congress, the number of Republican women could drop, but in Tennessee, two GOP candidates stand out as they try to make history as the first women ever to serve as senator or governor in that state. As NPR's Jessica Taylor reports, neither is really emphasizing that possibility, though.

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JESSICA TAYLOR, BYLINE¹: Representative Marsha Blackburn is at a bank in Portland, Tenn., making her pitch for why voters should pick her in this fall's tough Senate race against former Democratic governor Phil Bredesen.

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MARSHA BLACKBURN: People will say, Marsha, you're a wife; you're a mother, a businesswomen, and you've been in public service; why in the world do you want to go to the U.S. Senate? That place is totally dysfunctional.

TAYLOR: Blackburn's answer is that she wants to be part of fixing the problem, but she's quick to emphasize her resume over her gender². In fact, that's why she famously prefers to go by congressman³ instead of congresswoman. She says it's more gender-neutral.

BLACKBURN: When I'm talking with Tennesseans, I say, I'm the most well-qualified⁴ person for this position.

TAYLOR: Her colleague in Congress, Diane Black, is taking the same approach in her campaign for governor.

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TAYLOR: She's in a truck stop in Greeneville, Tenn., where a new flagpole is being dedicated⁵. Black first has to win a crowded primary next week, and that's no sure thing.

DIANE BLACK: No, people talk about that more than I do. I rarely talk about it.

TAYLOR: Like Blackburn, she thinks it's more important to talk about her loyalty⁶ to President Trump⁷ than whether she can make history in November. Both women have already had trailblazing careers. Black grew up in public housing and was a single mother who worked the night shift as a nurse. She later remarried and with her husband founded a multimillion dollar drug-testing company. Black eventually ran for the state Legislature and then Congress, which led to historic milestones⁸.

BLACK: It was the first female caucus⁹ chairman here in the state Senate, the first female to have served as the budget chair for our country. But that's not what I'm running as. I'm running on my credentials¹⁰.

TAYLOR: Blackburn took a similar path, and in 2002, she became the first woman elected to Congress in Tennessee who hadn't followed her husband in the position. Nearly a century ago, Tennessee gave women nationally the right to vote as the deciding state to ratify¹¹ the 19th Amendment¹². But since then, Tennessee has lagged behind. Now it's one of only seven states that's never had a female governor or senator. Susan Richardson Williams was the first female chairman of the Tennessee Republican Party. She says that while other women running for office have faced pushback because of their gender in the past, she doesn't think either Black or Blackburn will this cycle.

SUSAN RICHARDSON WILLIAMS: I think we're to the point in the South and around the country where gender doesn't matter so much. Yes, it'll be historic, but both of those women were qualified to serve in the offices.

TAYLOR: But nationally, a win by either Black or Blackburn would be important for conservative causes, according to Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of Susan B. Anthony List.

MARJORIE DANNENFELSER: Tennessee stands out as a place that is really answering the call for women to run.

TAYLOR: Dannenfelser's group promotes anti-abortion-rights women candidates and has endorsed¹³ Black and Blackburn. She says it's important for more conservative women to run. The difference is, the Republicans don't talk about their gender in the same way Democrats¹⁴ do.

DANNENFELSER: Yes, I think that Democrats are far more invested in identity politics - so vote for me because of how I look and what my gender is.

TAYLOR: But Marsha Blackburn says she still understands the significance of her candidacy.

BLACKBURN: I don't talk a lot about it in the race, but when I win this race, it will be a history-making win.

TAYLOR: And in a year when women are generating lots of enthusiasm for the Democratic Party, Tennessee could be Republicans' answer. Jessica Taylor, NPR News.

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