Blackburn to run to replace Corker in Senate

WASHINGTON—Rep. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., announced Thursday she will seek a seat in the U.S. Senate. The campaign launch comes a week after Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., said he would retire after his term finishes in 2018. The Tennessean first reported the news, which came less than one hour after Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam, also a Republican, said he would skip the race. “The United States Senate, it’s totally dysfunctional and it’s enough to drive you nuts, and that’s why I’ve decided to do something about it,” Blackburn said in video announcing her campaign. “I’m a hardcore, card-carrying Tennessee conservative. I’m politically incorrect and proud of it.” Blackburn first joined Congress in 2002. In 2016 she chaired the House Select Investigative Panel on Infant Lives, which formed to look into the abortion and fetal-tissue procurement industries in the wake of an undercover investigation of Planned Parenthood. Several other Republicans are still mulling a run to replace Corker, but Blackburn’s candidacy now headlines what could be a contested Republican primary on Aug. 2, 2018.