Rep. Marsha Blackburn's unabashed support of President Donald Trump has her toeing the line with women voters in her Tennessee Senate race, The Washington Post reports.
The conservative congresswoman — who insists on being called "congressman" — doesn't care how close she is to becoming the first female U.S. senator from her state and has kept her distance from gender issues during her campaign to replace the retiring Sen. Bob Corker, the Post reports.
Instead, Blackburn is running on her conservative credentials, being the most qualified for the job, and walking stride-by-stride with the president, who will be campaigning for Blackburn later Tuesday in Nashville.
But the female vote hangs in the balance; Trump has just a 48 percent approval rating with women in Tennessee. Further, Blackburn's opponent, former Gov. Phil Bredesen carries a 72 percent approval rating with women compared to Blackburn's 46 percent, according to a recent poll.
Women "will be one of, if not the, determinant in the race," Joshua Clinton, a professor of political science at Vanderbilt, told the Post. "Gender is going to be a huge component."
The Tennessee race is a crucial one for Senate Republicans, who hold just a one-seat majority but are banking on holding serve in the Volunteer State while flipping Democratic seats in other Trump-strong states.
Like Tennessee — Trump won there with 61 percent in the 2016 presidential election.
Blackburn, however, trails Bredesen in all but one of the polls.
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