Republican U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn won reelection to a second term in the U.S. Senate representing Tennessee on Tuesday. Blackburn is the first female U.S. senator from the Volunteer State. The Republican’s 2018 Senate victory against former Democratic Gov. Phil Bredesen marked a rightward shift in Tennessee’s politics, where voters had previously elected more centrist senators. Blackburn first got involved in politics in 1999 after being elected to the Tennessee Senate. She made a name for herself as one of the key state lawmakers who helped lead the revolt against a proposed Tennessee income tax in the early 2000s. The Associated Press declared Blackburn the winner at 8:00 p.m. EST.

The Associated Press