Knoxville's Gloria Johnson surges in Democratic Senate race, poll shows

Knoxville state Rep. Gloria Johnson is surging in her effort to secure the Democratic nomination to take on Tennessee GOP Sen. Marsha Blackburn, a new Beacon Center poll shows.

Johnson leads her closest opponent, Marquita Bradshaw, by 30 points.

The new numbers are a stark contrast to the Beacon's Center's October poll, which showed Bradshaw leading 49% to Johnson's 29%.

"It is clear that Johnson's ad spending and financial advantage over the rest of the Democratic field has started to pay off. While a 30-point advantage is certainly substantial, there is still a lot of time left before election day and with a plurality of Democratic primary voters undecided, there is still plenty of room for movement in this race," Beacon spokesperson Mark Cunningham said.

There's still a long way to go before the Aug. 1 primary and the November election. The poll shows 45% of Democratic voters are still undecided in their nominee, according to the poll.

"Despite a large number of undecided voters and a more limited sample size, Gloria Johnson is in an excellent position in the Democratic primary against 2020 Senate candidate Marquita Bradshaw," Cunningham said.

There is a third candidate in the race as well, former Fayette County Public Schools board member Civil Miller-Watkins. Johnson and Bradshaw's dominance over Miller-Watkins could come from an advantage they share: name recognition.

Johnson made national headlines when her Tennessee House colleagues unsuccessfully tried to oust her and fellow Democratic state Reps. Justin Jones and Justin Pearson after they took to the House floor to loudly call for gun reform after the deadly shooting of three children and three adults at Nashville's Covenant School in March. Jones and Pearson were kicked out of the House but reinstated by voters in special elections.

She's since made gun reform and women's rights a large part of her platform, although she told Knox News she was considering a run before the Tennessee Three events.

Bradshaw, a Memphian, became the first black woman to be nominated for statewide office by either major political party in the state. She's the founder of Youth Terminating Pollution and has volunteered with Stand for Children, Tennesseans for Fair Taxation, Tennessee African American Environmental Justice Network and more.

The poll, conducted by the conservative-leaning think tank between Dec. 14 and 28, asked respondents who they would be most likely to vote for in the 2024 primary between Johnson, Bradshaw and Miller-Watkins.

The winner of the Aug. 1 primary will face an uphill battle against Blackburn in November. Tennessee hasn't been represented in the Senate by a Democrat since 1995, and in 2018, Blackburn beat former Gov. Phil Bredesen by nearly 11%. Bredesen was the last Democrat to win a statewide race.

In 2020, Donald Trump won the state with 61% of the vote for U.S. president even as he was defeated handily nationwide by Joe Biden.

Allie Feinberg reports on politics for Knox News. Email her: allie.feinberg@knoxnews.com and follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter, @alliefeinberg.

Support strong local journalism by subscribing at knoxnews.com/subscribe

This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Gloria Johnson is leading Marquita Bradshaw in Senate primary