On the Fly presented by The TN Firefly
On the Fly is the podcast of the Tennessee Firefly, taking listeners further into the education stories we cover.
On the Fly presented by The TN Firefly
On the Fly: July 17, 2026 Friday Flicker
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This week, we began a series of election profiles in advance of next month’s primary and general election. Every State House seat is up for a vote this year, along with odd-numbered Senate seats, and early voting on all of them began today.
One common theme we saw in two GOP primaries is a divide over programs like the Education Freedom Scholarship that allow families to use taxpayer dollars for private school expenses.
In East Tennessee’s Senate District 1 GOP primary, incumbent Senator Adam Lowe voted to expand the program, while both of his opponents are running on opposing it.
There’s a similar divide in Sumner County’s House District 45 GOP primary, where businessman Brian Stewart supports expanding the Education Freedom Scholarship while his opponent, Chris Hughes, has reservations.
We also had important updates on the governor’s race this week. U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn reported raising $2.7 million this quarter. Her opponent, Congressman John Rose, reported raising $259,227, and State Representative Monty Fritts reported raising $80,353.
Campaign reports also show Rose loaned his campaign nearly $4 million this quarter, following $5 million in personal loans last year. Those loans prompted Blackburn’s campaign to send out a memo touting her campaign as the "grassroots campaign" in the race, noting that she’s received more than 62,000 contributions compared to 2,000 for Rose, and Blackburn says 74 percent of those contributors are from Tennessee.