Bill Hagerty

Democrats across the country are invigorated by new candidates and debates about the party's identity as they work to flip the House and Senate in the midterm elections. In deep red Tennessee, Sen. Bill Hagerty is facing perennial candidates with a steep uphill battle to unseat him.

Hagerty was first elected in 2020 with 62% of the vote against Marquita Bradshaw, a Democratic candidate for the nomination to run against him again in 2026. Hagerty is uncontested in the Aug. 6 Republican primary, and he's sitting on $5,674,880 that's almost 3,000 times the size of the best-funded Democratic primary candidate's reserves.

Hagerty did not respond to numerous requests for an interview by USA TODAY-Tennessee for this report.

Candidates Bradshaw, Maria Brewer, Kevin Lee McCants, Civil Miller-Watkins and Diana Onyejiaka are running in the Democratic primary. Bradshaw and Miller-Watkins also ran for Senate in 2024, but both lost in the Democratic primary to state Rep. Gloria Johnson.

Each Democratic Senate candidate who spoke to USA TODAY Network-Tennessee cited ways they hope to be a check on the president's power if they're elected. That's inspired major Democratic political groups from the progressive and moderate wings of the party to pour millions of dollars into their preferred candidate's primary campaign fund.

Big Democratic donors have stayed out of the Tennessee Senate primary, though. Each Democratic candidate has raised less than $1,000 according to the most recent available Federal Election Commission data.

Miller-Watkins has the largest donation of any Democratic candidate, with $616 from an anonymous donor using the Democratic donation software Act Blue. Bradshaw has over $800 of un-itemized donations, which means individual donations didn't make the $200 threshold to be individually recorded on FEC paperwork. The other candidates did not raise money as of March 31.

USA TODAY Network-Tennessee spoke to four of the five Democrats on the ballot for U.S. Senate in the Aug. 6 primary election. Early voting starts July 17. The winner of the Democratic primary will face Hagerty and independents Tharon Chandler, Andrew Gerena, Jeremy Dean Hearn, Robert Jones, James William Macon III, Yoshi Matthews, David Sutman Jr. and Catherine Barcel "Barcy" Whitson in the Nov. 3 general election.

Democratic candidate Kevin Lee McCants, a pastor, could not be reached for this report. McCants is also running for Tennessee governor.

Marquita Bradshaw

Age: 52

Occupation: Environmental activist

What's the biggest issue facing Americans and Tennesseans right now?

A lot of people have seen the erosion of democracy and due process. Right now, we need to work to make sure that working people across Tennessee’s voices are heard. Right now, everything is unaffordable. Things will continue to skyrocket if we don’t address the elephant in the room when it comes to being dependent on fossil fuels. When gas goes up, everything goes up, especially the things working people need. In order to build a working economy around working people, we need to address not only affordability, but democracy. That’s a lever that can be pulled to invest in those technologies so we won’t be dependent on fossil fuel infrastructure whether it be with our energy or transportation, and that would affect affordability.

If elected, how will you stay accessible to constituents (for example, town halls, office hours, publishing your schedule or meetings)?

Not only should there be offices where people can actually get to, because Tennessee is a long state. Making sure that all 95 counties have a way to not only have town halls, but also have information regularly about what’s going on and what’s being passed at the U.S. Senate level and how it affects them. There’s just a big disconnect, and I am ready to serve Tennesseans to bridge that gap and put the power back in the hands of people.

Maria Brewer

Age: 59

Occupation: Former director of party affairs for the Tennessee Democratic Party

What's the biggest issue facing Americans and Tennesseans right now?

We have to stop the corruption that’s currently causing so many of our problems and connecting the dots between what’s happening in D.C. and what’s happening in our own homes. When we go to the grocery store or when we pump a tank of gas and we see how prices have risen, we’re naturally going to wonder, “How did all of that happen?” When we look past the blaming and we look at what’s really happening, we can see that between the chaotic tariffs, this war with Iran, we can see the corruption and money that’s lining the pockets of our leaders in D.C. They’re not putting people first.

If elected, how will you stay accessible to constituents (for example, town halls, office hours, publishing your schedule or meetings)?

My background is in being a grassroots organizer. One of the most important things that you miss out on as Americans is being part of our government. You vote and you get told that’s the pinnacle of democracy. We vote for our representatives, and we need to keep track of what they’re doing and how they’re doing and keep letting them know what it is we want them to do.

That’s why I want to run as an everyday person, to be able to take that power that we have here in Tennessee, that every person has. I think it’s really important for people to understand how Congress works. Tennesseans need to understand those committees, and they need to be here in the state taking part in working groups and taking part in information sessions that not only are they learning from, but they’re giving input into. I would set up a grassroots-level working group, not just constituents services so that we’re helping Tennesseans, but so that we have an open-ended dialogue going on with Tennesseans about what’s important to them.

Kevin Lee McCants

Occupation: Senior pastor

McCants could not be reached.

Civil Miller-Watkins

Age: 60

Occupation: Educator

What's the biggest issue facing Americans and Tennesseans right now?

It’s the cost of things. No single politician can get a lot done by themselves, so it takes a group of folks working together to make things happen. I feel like one of the bigger things we could do is cut those tariffs that we have on food and the household basics, because we understand that tariffs are just taxes on imported goods. And of course, we have to look at lowering energy and transportation costs.

If elected, how will you stay accessible to constituents (for example, town halls, office hours, publishing your schedule or meetings)?

You have to have town halls. I’m from a rural community, and I know firsthand what it means to not have representation. We don’t have a lot of town halls here in rural communities so we have to go searching for information and seek out what’s happening in our country. If there were town halls, that’s your face-to-face opportunity for folks who are willing to come out and have a conversation with you. It’s not just talking to the constituents that make you comfortable, that you may agree with. It’s talking to anyone that is willing to come to you and have a conversation.

Diana Onyejiaka

Age: 42

Occupation: Educator, businesswoman, former USDA federal mediator

What's the biggest issue facing Americans and Tennesseans right now?

The affordability crisis. We’ve got an issue with high gas prices, high grocery prices, high health care prices. I want to address that, and I want to help with bringing an agreement between the United States and Iran, which is spiking prices right now. (The war) is blocking the ports and is impacting international shipping. We’ve got an issue with fertilizers, farmers can’t afford it. I want to bring our farmers’ goods into the stores and have them competing with other products. That way, it would drive down the prices of the goods in our grocery stores and puts our farmers to work. It’s just bringing common sense to the table and reminding folks that there are everyday people who are being impacted by the decisions that we’re making in Congress.

If elected, how will you stay accessible to constituents (for example, town halls, office hours, publishing your schedule or meetings)?

We have a problem where our United States senators don’t stay plugged in with the people. I’ve started to build an infrastructure on the ground, connecting with people. What we want to do is make sure that the relationships that we’re fostering expand and that we use the people we’re building with to stay plugged in with what’s going on in these counties. That way, I know directly whether a policy that I’m advocating for would actually help Tennesseans or harm Tennesseans. I want the decisions I make to be influenced by those who I serve whether they vote for me or not. We’re going to do door knockings to gather information. I plan to stay accessible by holding monthly town halls. Emails, we’re going to have a reasonable turnaround period, something that is practical but won’t alienate constituents. They can expect emails back and not generic ones, but thoughtful responses. I want folks to know that I’m a neighborhood advocate. A lot of the reasons why things like the “Big, Beautiful Bill” is being endorsed by folks like Bill Hagerty and Marsha Blackburn is because they are completely disconnected from the experiences of everyday Tennesseans.

Who is Sen. Bill Hagerty, the GOP candidate?

The winner of the Democratic primary will run against a slew of independent candidates and GOP Sen. Bill Hagerty.

Hagerty, 65, served in the governor's cabinet as commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development from 2011-2014 and as U.S. ambassador to Japan from 2017-2019. He was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2020, with 50.8% of the vote in the GOP primary and 62% in the general election.

He's a close ally of President Donald Trump and has championed Trump's agenda through supporting the "Big Beautiful Bill," Trump's immigration crackdown, the creation of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and more.

In late 2024, Hagerty was among the names talked about for an appointment to Trump's administration, though he ultimately wasn't tapped. After he wasn't asked to serve with Trump in Washington, Hagerty weighed a run for governor but eventually announced his reelection bid in early 2025 instead.

Support for Hagerty has been flowing since he made the announcement, including from Knox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs. Like Hagerty, Jacobs considered running for governor before endorsing Blackburn.

"(Hagerty) has been a thoughtful, conservative leader in the Senate who has made us all #TennesseeProud," Jacobs wrote on social media. "Grateful he's running for re-election and will continue to serve."

Diana Onyejiaka's response has been updated to reflect a more complete answer.

Allie Feinberg is the politics reporter for Knox News. Email: [email protected]; Reddit: u/KnoxNewsAllie