President Donald Trump will be holding a tele-town hall with U.S. Rep. Andy Ogles on Tuesday, and U.S. Sen. Bill Hagerty has formally endorsed Ogles. This comes amid reports from former Tennessee Agriculture Commissioner Charlie Hatcher the race between the two is tightening.

We are honored and excited by the recognition.

COMMENTARY. John Cole’s Tennessee: Memphis (Un)safe Task Force. Agents with the Memphis Safe Task Force, deployed by President Donald Trump in September, have shot seven people in Memphis, four of them fatally.

Endorsement alert: U.S. Sen. Ed Markey, a Massachusetts Democrat, has endorsed state Rep. Justin J. Pearson in the latter's race for the Democratic nomination for the 9th Congressional District.

Endorsement alert: The @timesfreepress.bsky.social has endorsed U.S. Rep. John Rose for the Republican gubernatorial nomination.

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.

COMMENTARY. John Cole’s Tennessee: The Trump in the punchbowl. Plans for the Great American State Fair first went awry when performers dropped out, citing partisanship. Small crowds continue to plague the event, despite President Donald Trump saying on social media it was “packed.”

COMMENTARY. John Cole’s Tennessee: Trolling with treasure. The Tennessee Academy of Family Physicians Foundation has launched a program offering young physicians up to $200,000 to pay off medical school debt in return for practicing In small or rural Tennessee communities.

COMMENTARY. John Cole’s Tennessee: Try THAT in a small town. Communities across Tenessee are pushing back on proliferating data centers, issuing moratoriums to halt construction.

COMMENTARY: Faithful, Tennessee style: U.S. Rep. Andy Ogles has become known for his regular eruptions on Muslims, immigrants and recently, on LGBTQ+ people. From editorial cartoonist John Cole.

Commentary from editorial cartoonist John Cole: Hare-brained immigration chase. The Trump administration’s pursuit of Kilmar Abrego Garcia has taken on the aspects of a Looney Tunes coyote-and-roadrunner pursuit.

Congratulations to Emily Siner and Camellia Burrus for their work on "The Debt," produced by the Tennessee Lookout and @wpln.bsky.social. Onward to the national Edward R. Murrow Awards!

Commentary from editorial cartoonist John Cole: Would you like your receipt? A lawsuit by CVS against Tennessee over a new law banning the company from owning a pharmacy benefit manager is longer than a CVS receipt.

Just in: Waverly Crenshaw, U.S. District Court Judge for the Middle District of Tennessee, has dismissed charges against Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the Maryland man who was wrongly deported by the Trump administration in 2025.

Just in: Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee has issued a 1-year reprieve to death row inmate Tony Carruthers after a botched attempt by the state to execute Carruthers Thursday.

Commentary from editorial cartoonist John Cole: The elephant in the courtroom.

From the new Tennessee campaign trail: Retiring U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen endorses Columbia Mayor Chaz Molder, who is running for the Democratic nomination for Congress in the redrawn District 5.

Commentary from editorial cartoonist John Cole: Three biggest lies. Tennessee Republican lawmakers claimed to have no knowledge of the racial makeup of Memphis — a majority minority city — during the recent redistricting process.

State Sen. Brent Taylor's official announcement for Congress in the newly-drawn 9th Congressional District:

U.S. Sen. Bill Hagerty has endorsed state Sen. Brent Taylor, who is apparently running for the newly-drawn Tennessee 9th Congressional District.

Commentary: The Rev. Gordon Gibson writes of his personal experience fighting for the 1965 Voting Rights Act: "My colleague Jim Ree walking next to a close friend of mine when they were attacked by four white men on the streets of Selma . . . (Jim) died a few days later.

Keshaun Pearson, brother of Memphis Rep. Justin Pearson, was arrested in the Tennessee House gallery for apparently protesting. Photos by John Partipilo.

New Tennessee congressional maps are public:

Hundreds of people outside the Tennessee Capitol to protest a special legislative session aimed at redrawing congressional maps 12 weeks before the election. Photos by @cstephenson.bsky.social.

Protesters line the street outside the Cordell Hull Legislative Office Building in Nashville prior to the start of Tuesday's special legislative session to redraw the state's congressional maps. In the second photo, Sen. Brent Taylor, a Memphis Republican, enters the garage amid the crowd.

John Cole's Tennessee: Rolling in dough. An update to Tennessee Lookout's Cash for Clout database tracks money from corporations and special interest groups pouring into to lawmakers' coffers.

Commentary from editorial cartoonist John Cole: Yass, girl. Jeff Yass, an investor in TikTok, donated $1 million to a political action committee supporting U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn’s gubernatorial bid. In 2024, Blackburn called TikTok a ” national security threat.”

Congratulations to Emily Siner and Camellia Burris! Their podcast, "The Debt," is a finalist for @edwriters.bsky.social National Awards for Education Reporting. Produced by and for Tennessee Lookout and @wpln.bsky.social, it focused on generational inequities at Tennessee State University.

Commentary from John Cole’s Tennessee: House Speaker Cameron Sexton has spearheaded a package of anti-immigrant bills, crafted with the help of White House Deputy Chief of Staff, including a measure requiring public schools to check the immigration status of students.

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