Gov. Roy Cooper leads Michael Whatley by four percentage points in a new poll from Public Policy Polling, which shows a race that remains competitive as voters begin to tune into the campaign. ncnewsline.com/briefs/new-p... @kingdollar.bsky.social #ncpol

Breaking: A judge dismissed a legal challenge to Virginia's pending reproductive rights constitutional amendment. A lawyer for the plaintiff in the case tells me they intend to appeal. Background from a previous story here: virginiamercury.com/2026/07/03/v...

Sen. Darline Graham joined the U.S. Senate Tuesday, temporarily filling the seat of her late brother, Lindsey Graham.

Ad watch: U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn released her second gubernatorial ad, entitled "Can't stay," in which she says she's going to crack down on foreign drug cartels. "They can't stay and they've gotta pay," Blackburn says in the ad.

The population in West Tennessee was expected to surge after Ford announced a $5.6B electric vehicle plant in Stanton, lured by nearly $1B in state funding. Production delays have made that future uncertain. tennesseelookout.com/2026/07/14/m... @tennesseelookout.com @cstephenson.bsky.social

President Donald Trump “acted in bad faith” when he swiftly dropped his tax return lawsuit and directed his Cabinet members to establish a $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund, a federal judge in Florida ruled Monday.

Most West Tennessee counties aren’t growing as quickly as projected following Ford Motor Co. and SK On’s BlueOval City automotive plant announcement in 2021, recent population estimates indicate. From @cstephenson.bsky.social

Republican gubernatorial candidate U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn is ready to activate the modern iteration of “Old Sparky” -- the electric chair-- as Tennessee grapples with lethal injection protocol for executions. Sam Stockard talked to the GOP gubernatorial candidates about the death penalty.

ICYMI: Tennessee Freedom Fund political action committee, associated with the Club for Growth, are funding an ad for U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn's gubernatorial race. The Club for Growth's mission includes dismantling of the US Department of Education and expansion of school vouchers.

President Donald Trump announced Monday he would like the South Carolina governor to select the late U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham’s sister to fill the Republican’s seat for the remainder of his term.

Burned portions of a historic former elementary school in Fayette County are set to be demolished this week after a July 4 fire damaged the unused property and raised concerns of asbestos exposure. From @cstephenson.bsky.social.

The cost to taxpayers of the University of Tennessee’s constitutional ignorance. My latest column up today @tennesseelookout.com. tennesseelookout.com/2026/07/13/s...

COMMENTARY: "How fitting it was that (University of Tennessee professor) Tamar Shirinian landed on the happy side of a nearly $2 million legal settlement just as the country was celebrating its 250th." Columnist @brucebarry.bsky.social on freedom of speech and UT.

A Nashville judge has extended an order preventing Tennessee Department of Health officials from sharing identifying information about 400 sick and disabled kids with a state agency that collaborates with federal immigration enforcement. From @anitawadhwani.bsky.social.

A pro-private school voucher group has donated $3 million to a Tennessee political action committee backing U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn in her gubernatorial campaign, the latter of which has paid for two campaign ads for Blackburn. From @friedmanadam5.bsky.social.

Interested in more coverage? Visit our new "Immigration Enforcement" trend page for updates across the states. www.newsfromthestates.com/rising-trend...

A Nashville judge on Friday extended a restraining order preventing the Department of Health from reporting sick and immigrant kids in a public health program to a state immigration office. via @tennesseelookout.com www.newsfromthestates.com/article/400-...

@tennesseelookout.com meets @citycastnash.bsky.social! What could be better than this on a Monday morning?!! Get your political updates and prep to vote! If 500,000 can sign a petition for the Zoo, you sure as heck can go vote in the Midterms!

U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, 71, died on Saturday night of a “brief and sudden illness,” the South Carolina Republican’s office announced early Sunday. From @janenorman.bsky.social.

President Donald Trump’s latest shot in a relentless war on how elections are conducted has triggered enormous concern among voting rights activists: As of Thursday night, the US Election Assistance Commission has no members.

COMMENTARY: "Quite literally, what in God’s name are we doing? The measure of a person, a city, a state or society is more than how we treat those labeled, ‘most important.’ A better measure is how we engage with the most vulnerable among us."

The ACLU and National Immigration Law Center are asking a federal judge to reopen a case that challenges the constitutionality of new Tennessee law making illegal immigration a state crime. via @tennesseelookout.com

Tennessee is at the forefront of data center proliferation and is set to continue receiving significant investments in new projects which could lead to higher energy costs, according to a report from @thinktn.bsky.social.

Ad watch: U.S. Rep. John Rose has released a new ad in Tennessee's gubernatorial race titled "Meltdown Marsha." The 30-second spot replays a recent @newschannel5plus.bsky.social story in which U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn repeats the same line in response to a reporter's questions.

The ACLU and National Immigration Law Center are asking federal Judge Eli Richardson to reopen a case that challenges the constitutionality of new Tennessee law making illegal immigration a state crime. From @anitawadhwani.bsky.social.

Keep up with state news. Subscribe to @tennesseelookout.com It’s free. It’s fair. It’s inmformative! I also encourage a personal contribution.

From @tennesseelookout.com: Tennessee is at the forefront of data center proliferation and is set to continue receiving significant investments in new projects which could lead to higher energy costs, according to a report from ThinkTennessee. www.newsfromthestates.com/article/visu...

Trump described the course as “old and run down” and “virtually unplayable.” MD and VA senators said it’s historic, providing an affordable and accessible option for D.C. residents. My latest for @statesnewsroom.com www.newsfromthestates.com/article/trum...

Four senators from Maryland and Virginia, all Democrats, said Thursday they have sent a letter to the Department of the Interior, demanding answers on the Trump administration’s plan to redevelop the East Potomac Golf Links.

Republicans are campaigning to keep control of Congress for another two years, but their message about being the “grown-ups” in the room keeps getting overshadowed by public feuds that have sidetracked work on major legislation. From @jennifershutt.bsky.social.

COMMENTARY: "What in the name of God are we doing?" Rev. Jeff Brown of Nashville's Woodmont Hills Church writes of a state move to kick critically ill kids off life-sustaining health care or report their families to ICE, saying it's time to label it immoral.

Agents with the Memphis Safe Task Force shot and killed a man on Wednesday, the second such killing this week and one of eight use-of-force incidents -- four fatal -- under investigation by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, reports @anitawadhwani.bsky.social.

A man was killed in Memphis Wednesday after one or more members of the Memphis Safe Task force opened fire while attempting to serve a warrant, according to the U.S. Marshals Service and Tennessee Bureau of Investigation. via @tennesseelookout.com

Worth mentioning that police/TBI have released little info beyond initial statements in use-of-force incidents by the Memphis Safe Task Force “We can not release case files in an (officer-involved shooting) until the investigation is complete" TBI said All investigations are “active and ongoing,”

Democratic nominee Graham Platner dropped out of Maine’s U.S. Senate race on Wednesday, two days after an accusation of sexual assault tanked support from his party. From @mainemorningstar.com.

The “new Nine” is an L-shaped gerrymandered seat stretching across rural Middle & West Tennessee, pinned between two of the state’s wealthiest suburbs outside Nashville & Memphis. “What do we in Pulaski have in common with Nashville and Memphis?” Good question. The @tennesseelookout.com reports.

From the national political scene: A host of high-profile Democrats called for Graham Platner, the party’s nominee to take on Republican U.S. Sen. Susan Collins of Maine in November’s election, to drop out of the race as they tried to save the party’s chances to retake the Senate majority.

Tennessee Comptroller Jason Mumpower said an audit of Memphis-Shelby County Schools that identified over $54 million in MSCS spending as evidence of potential fraud, waste, or abuse shows not one-off mistakes but “systemic failures” in district management from 2021 to 2024. From @chalkbeat.org.

Ad watch: U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn has released her first ad in the Tennessee Republican primary: www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_0y...

The Fayette County Fire Department sought hazard mitigation guidance from the Tennessee Emergency Management Authority and the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC) in an effort to contain any disturbed asbestos after a historic school burned. From @cstephenson.bsky.social

"What do we have in common?" @friedmanadam5.bsky.social drove the 250 miles of the new Tennessee 9th Congressional District, through the suburbs of Nashville and rural Middle and West Tennessee to Memphis, to talk to voters about issues of concern and dichotomies.

A new appeals court ruling is another blow to the Trump administration’s mandatory detention policy that threatens millions of immigrants with unlimited incarceration without bond if they ever crossed a border illegally. From @timhenderson.bsky.social.

Who's on first? Metro Nashville is dueling with a new state-appointed airport board over who has control under a recent state law, after the state-appointed board voted Monday to withdraw the Metro Nashville Airport Authority from a lawsuit filed by Metro Nashville.

On the eve of the nation’s 250th birthday, President Donald Trump used his address Friday night at Mount Rushmore National Memorial in South Dakota to allege that there is “a resurgence of the communist menace in our land.”

Two Tennessee National Guard soldiers assigned to the Memphis Safe Task Force fired shots during a foot pursuit in the early hours of Sunday morning, killing a 20-year-old armed man, according to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission sued Toyota Boshoku Jackson Tennessee Monday alleging that managers and supervisors at the automotive manufacturing plant repeatedly groped, insulted and demanded sexual favors from female employees. @cstephenson.bsky.social reports

The National Weather Service recommended Tennesseans stay indoors, hydrate and use air conditioning but data released by the U.S. Census Bureau in May estimated that about 2% of state households have no access to any kind of air conditioning. From @cstephenson.bsky.social

Four Democratic candidates, two making their second run in a year: a look at the Democratic primary for Tennessee's newly-drawn 7th Congressional District.

I admit that I think that every newsletter from @tennesseelookout.com is worth reading, but today's issue is full of interesting news & great commentary. If you live in TN & haven't subscribed (for free!), what are you doing? Here's today's issue - newsletters.tennesseelookout.com/p/a-second-s...