TN in the Margins

From Megan Podsiedlik

Governor’s Race in the Margins Of those polled in the latest Beacon Center of Tennessee poll, 46 percent said they would pull the lever for Republican candidate Marsha Blackburn, compared to 33 percent who said they’d vote for Democratic candidate Jerri Green in the governor race. Those results are not a surprise, but the crosstabs tell a more interesting story. 

The crossover of self-proclaimed Democrats who said they’d vote for Blackburn (5 percent) was higher than the crossover of Republicans who said they’d vote for Green (3 percent). That said, Green drew more support from independent/other party affiliations, with 33 percent of her overall support coming from that block. Only 27 percent of Blackburn's overall supporters identifed as independent/other. 

The numbers are also interesting when looking at political ideology: conservative, moderate, or liberal. Again, more liberals make up those who said they would vote for Blackburn than conservatives who said they’d vote for Green. As for self-identified moderates, 40 percent made up those who said they’d vote for Green, while only 31 percent made up those who said they’d vote for Blackburn, making moderate messaging a winner for the underdog.

Artificial Intelligence Tennesseans aren't rejecting artificial intelligence, but there are some discrepancies depending on its use. The majority (54 percent) approve of the public having access to AI tools such as ChatGPT, Claude, Grok, and Gemini, but 53 percent believe AI will eliminate more jobs than it creates. The majority only supports AI use in healthcare when there are clear limits and human oversight. 

That said, only 33 percent are worried AI could eliminate their current job within five years, while 65 percent aren't concerned. At this point, Tennesseans are still pretty confident (52 percent) that they can spot content created by artificial intelligence compared to content created by a person. 

Middle Tennessee Beacon’s crosstabs reveal a few things about the mid-state worth noting. The majority of the region is optimistic about the way things are going in the state, with 56 percent of Middle Tennesseans polled reporting satisfaction. When it comes to state politics, the majority of those polled in the region are dissatisfied with the Tennessee Legislature, and only 41 percent trust state government.

The trust for local government is even lower. Only 36 percent of Middle Tennesseans trust their local city or county government, with 42 percent saying they distrust it. The region is the least pessimistic compared to East and West Tennessee about affordability, but the numbers aren’t great. A whopping 50 percent of Middle Tennesseans say life is less affordable than six months ago. As for K-12 education, the mid-state is mixed: 40 percent are satisfied and 46 percent are dissatisfied, with 11 percent having no opinion.

Super Bowl It turns out everyone is down with hosting Super Bowl LXIV in Nashville: 83 percent of East Tennesseans, 83 percent of Middle Tennesseans, and 82 percent of West Tennesseans think the event is a good thing.

Back to Our Roots We're sponsoring an event with the Meriwether Academy as they host Justin Shubow to speak about how beauty, civic architecture, and public design shape American culture and identity. Shubow is president of the National Civic Art Society and a former chairman of the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts, best known for championing classical and traditional architecture in American public life. For gentlemen only. Buy Tickets.