Tennessee Republican gubernatorial candidate U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn talked about legislative priorities and artificial intelligence in an interview with the Williamson Scene, as pressure mounts for her to debate her Republican opponents, Congressman John Rose and State Rep. Monty Fritts.
Blackburn took part in the interview following remarks at The All-American Cookout event, which benefited the county’s 4-H program. She told the Williamson Scene that if elected, she would focus on cost of living and growing jobs and businesses, along with generally supporting public safety and education.
She did not give specifics on those priorities, adding that one of her first acts as governor would be to pursue “a Tennessee-style DOGE,” a reference to the federal-level Department of Government Efficiency which was created in 2025 by executive order by President Donald Trump before shutting down on July 4.
She said that this state-level effort would focus on “rooting out some programs that have outlived their usefulness and positions that need to be reviewed,” but did not give specifics on the plan.
DOGE operated with little public oversight and transparency while firing government employees and cutting funding across the federal government, actions that impacted everything from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to the National Park Service. It even resulted in the firing of hundreds of National Nuclear Security Administration staffers, the agency that manages the nation's stockpile of nuclear weapons, without DOGE officials realizing the negative impact on national security, something that was later reversed.
A flurry of politicians and lawyers have decried the actions of DOGE as illegal, with numerous lawsuits and some legal losses for the Trump administration.
Blackburn also spoke about her views on investing in and regulating AI.
“One of the things we have to realize is that the computational sciences and quantum and AI, [are] going to underpin every one of our industrial sectors,” Blackburn said, voicing support for expanding and investing in technology sectors in Tennessee, specifically noting quantum computing research in Chattanooga and AI research at the University of Tennessee.
“We cannot let China win the AI race,” she added, following a theme of warnings and political attacks against “Communist China” in her campaign ads.
Blackburn is one of several U.S. Senators sponsoring the bipartisan Nurture Originals, Foster Art, and Keep Entertainment Safe (NO FAKES) Act, which aims to protect the voice and visual likenesses of people from AI at the federal level, citing both protecting artists and children online.
In 2024, Tennessee passed the ELVIS Act, becoming the first state to ensure likeness, voice and image protections for individuals from AI, an effort that Blackburn supported. In July 2025, she led the charge to remove a provision from the “Big Beautiful Bill” that would have seen a 10-year moratorium on states regulating AI.
“Getting the framework around that is going to be important,” Blackburn said. “As I've worked on this issue for the last couple of years — and federally, what we are doing is also putting protections in place when it comes to AI — we have to protect our children, protect creators, which are all of our copyright holders, innovators, singer songwriters, protect our communities from high electric rates, and then also make certain that there is no censorship embedded in the LLM’s [Learning Language Models] as they are being trained. If you're going to put garbage into a large learning model, then you are going to have garbage coming out. So those are the kind of protections that need to be there for individuals.”
When asked if she anticipates any conflict between the state and the federal government, whether it be the Trump administration, which is attempting to block state AI regulation by executive order, or Congress, Blackburn said, “I think we've really worked a lot of that out.”
“You need some federal guidelines, and of course, when you look at any kind of industrial sector, we set safety standards, and so you'll see the federal government do that, and then a lot of the enforcement and the watchdog work is going to be done by the states and the state's attorneys general,” she said.
On June 24, Blackburn spoke about AI-driven identity theft during a Nashville tech event, but her appearance was overshadowed by her refusal to answer several questions posed to her by NewsChannel 5 following the event, telling NC5 reporter Ben Hall that she was “on federal time,” arguing that she wasn’t able to answer questions about her gubernatorial campaign.
“We’re talking to Tennesseans every single day,” Blackburn repeatedly told Hall, even when he asked if she supported subsidies for companies like Starbucks, which recently established a regional corporate headquarters in Nashville.
That exchange resulted in widespread criticism from some voters, pundits and her Republican opponents.
When asked by the Williamson Scene on July 2 if she planned on participating in any forums or debates, she gave the same answer.
“We talk to Tennesseans every single day. We have done so many forums with the other two that are in the race,” Blackburn said, referencing several Republican events such as the Tennessee GOP Statesmen’s Dinner and the Williamson County Reagan Day Gala where candidates pitched their platforms in speeches.
Those events are not traditional political forums or debates, and many of Blackburn’s appearances are with Republican audiences who have purchased tickets for admission, something that is common with many Tennessee Republicans.
Blackburn would not say if she would participate in public head-to-head debates with her primary opponents, instead falling back on her campaign’s pitch.
“They [Tennesseans] want us to focus on making certain that Tennessee is a Christian conservative state. They want to make certain that Tennessee is America's conservative leader. We've stayed in regular touch, and we've had a very aggressive ground game from one corner of the state to the other, so we feel good about where we are.”
Since then, NC5, the League of Women Voters and Cumberland University have announced that they will host a GOP debate on July 20 ahead of the Aug. 6 primary. At the time of publishing, NC5 reports that Rose and Fritts have agreed to the debate, while Blackburn has not yet committed to participating.
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