Tennessee Governor 2026: the ads, and who's paying for them
Marsha Blackburn (Republican), Jerri Green (Democrat), Misam Abidi (independent), Dean Brewer (independent), Ray Brown (independent), David Hatley (independent), Wendell Jackson (independent), Charles Van Morgan (independent), Eddie Lee Murphy (independent), Lauren Pinkston (independent), Victor L. Scoggin (independent), Dave Seeman (independent), Karl Knox Smithson (independent), L. Webb Taylor (independent) and Robert C. Vick (independent) are the candidates for governor of Tennessee in the November 3, 2026 general election. Semblen has analyzed 72 ads in this race; 44 used at least one manipulation technique, most often glittering generalities and appeal to prejudice.
Marsha Blackburn (REP), Jerri Green (DEM), Misam Abidi (IND), Dean Brewer (IND), Ray Brown (IND), David Hatley (IND), Wendell Jackson (IND), Charles Van Morgan (IND), Eddie Lee Murphy (IND), Lauren Pinkston (IND), Victor L. Scoggin (IND), Dave Seeman (IND), Karl Knox Smithson (IND), L. Webb Taylor (IND), Robert C. Vick (IND).
On the ballot as listed by Tennessee Secretary of State, Candidates for Governor, November 3, 2026 General Election. 72 ads analyzed, 44 with at least one technique in the copy.
Newest first. The paid-for-by line is the advertiser's own filing. Updated 2026-10-08.
A small box with these findings and the newest ads, updated as new ads are analyzed. Free for newsrooms, blogs and campaigns alike; it links back here.
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Leaving out the softer ones (loaded language, glittering generalities, slogans, exaggeration, repetition): 57% of ads.
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Money in this race
Candidates for governor report their fundraising to Tennessee's state campaign-finance office, not the FEC. This page doesn't cover those reports yet, so it shows no money figures.
The ads
72 ads, newest first. Video transcripts are shown as the model read them, without caption cues like [music].
Showing the 1 ad paid for by Rose for TN, Inc.. Show all 72 ads
Paid for by Rose for TN, Inc.from 2026-07-20 to 2026-08-0724 variantsspend $26,700–33,5765,647,000–6,590,976 impressions
Tennessee doesn’t need another career politician like Marsha Blackburn. John Rose is a successful businessman and proven public servant who will give Tennessee it’s best years. Reject Marsha, vote John Rose on August 6!
Name Calling: The label 'career politician' is used as a derogatory term to discredit Marsha Blackburn rather than address her policy positions — for example: 'career politician like Marsha Blackburn'
Glittering Generalities: Vague, emotionally positive phrases like 'best years' are used to generate enthusiasm without providing specific policy substance — for example: 'give Tennessee it's best years'
Flag-Waving: Patriotic, religious, or in-group identity invoked to validate a position.
Slogans: Catchy phrase used to compress a complex position into an emotionally loaded shorthand.
Name Calling
Glittering Generalities
Flag-Waving
Slogans
Looks up the ad's factual claims in fact-checkers, primary sources and wire reporting. Takes up to a minute.
An email when new ads come in from either side or the outside groups: the techniques, the words doing the work, and who paid. And each debate's analysis the morning after. One-click unsubscribe.
An ad is on this page because its own "Paid for by" line is a campaign in this race; or it ran mostly in TN and names a nominee for governor — unless its sponsor is a campaign for some other office (a U.S. Senate or House campaign included), or it also names TN's Senate nominees, in which case it is on the Senate race's page. Ads from outside groups appear alongside the campaigns' own.
The candidates are the ones certified for the November ballot, from the source linked at the top. Governors are state offices, so there are no FEC filings behind this page: no money figures, and outside groups are placed on a side only when they are a campaign or a party committee.
Campaigns run one text as many separate ads. Identical text from the same sponsor is one card here, marked with its number of variants.
A technique is a specific manipulative move in the wording, found by our model and explained in one line. It is not a claim that the ad is false.
Claims are checked when a reader asks: press "Check this ad's claims" on a card. The check runs once and its result is shown to everyone afterwards. The ten ads with the most money behind them in each race are checked ahead of time.
Claim verdicts say what the cited sources say. A verdict that an ad is wrong or misleading is shown only when it cites an established fact-checker or an institutional record — Congress, a federal agency, a court — and its confidence is not low; a weaker one is not shown at all. Each verdict shows what it rests on and how confident it is. If we got one wrong, press Disagree: a verdict that readers dispute and no one defends comes down.
Video ads come from the campaigns' own YouTube channels; the transcript is analyzed. Meta ads are analyzed on their text; their video and images are not, yet.
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