State Rep. Garrett prevails in Republican primary for Tennessee’s 6th District • Tennessee Lookout
Former U.S. Rep. Hilleary loses bid to return to Congress
State Rep. Johnny Garrett with anti-transgender activist Riley Gaines on Aug. 6, 2026. Garrett won Tennessee’s 6th Congressional District Republican primary. (Photo: John Partipilo/Tennessee Lookout)
State Rep. Johnny Garrett of Sumner County won the Republican nomination for Tennessee’s 6th Congressional District and will advance to November’s general election.
Garrett turned back a bid by former U.S. Rep. Van Hilleary to return to Congress after leaving in 2002 for an ill-fated gubernatorial run.
The Associated Press called the race just after 8:30 p.m. CDT, with Garrett holding 43% of the votes cast — a figure nearly identical to the percentage U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn earned in the Republican gubernatorial primary.
Garrett’s campaign was closely tied to Blackburn’s — strategist Ward Baker ran both, as well as that of state Sen. Brent Taylor, who clinched the GOP nomination in the 9th Congressional District — and appeared j…