Nashville, Tennessee: Bill Hagerty Wins Second Term in the U.S. Senate, Defeating Marquita Bradshaw

U.S. Sen. Bill Hagerty won a second term representing Tennessee on Tuesday night, defeating Democratic challenger Marquita Bradshaw. NBC and Fox News called the race shortly before 9 p.m., the Nashville Tennessean reported, and the Associated Press also called the race for Hagerty. In the Associated Press count, Hagerty had 1,088,408 votes to 862,850 for Bradshaw, with about 90 percent of precincts reporting.

A rematch from Memphis to Nashville

The race was a rematch of Hagerty's first bid for the Senate six years ago. Bradshaw, an organizer from Memphis, again carried the Democratic nomination against Hagerty, a Republican from Davidson County, where Nashville is the county seat. Hagerty cast his own ballot around 8 a.m. on Tuesday at Nashville's Hillsboro Presbyterian Church, the Tennessean reported in its live coverage.

"I will never stop fighting for the values that make our state and our nation strong," Hagerty wrote on X, in a statement reported by Knox News. He won about 55 percent of the vote. The National Republican Senatorial Committee congratulated Hagerty on his win. "Bill is a champion for Tennessee families who will always put them first, keep them safe, and protect their values," Chairman Tim Scott said, in a statement carried by the Tennessean. "Let's get back to work!"

Who Hagerty is

Hagerty, 67, was first elected in 2020 after serving as President Donald Trump's ambassador to Japan from 2017 to 2019, Knox News reported. From 2011 to 2014 he was Gov. Bill Haslam's commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development. Before entering politics, he was a venture capital and private equity investor.

In the Senate, Hagerty serves on the Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, the Committee on Foreign Relations, the Committee on Appropriations, and the Committee on Rules and Administration, Knox News reported. He has pushed to build up nuclear power in Tennessee and has been involved in Japanese investments in the state. He has also criticized Tennessee Valley Authority leaders as moving too slowly on nuclear projects. In a 2025 op-ed in POWER Magazine, Hagerty and Sen. Marsha Blackburn called for a new board to direct the TVA and an interim chief executive from outside the utility to lead daily operations, citing the pace of nuclear progress among other issues, Knox News reported.

Tennessee voters also chose nine U.S. House members and weighed in on three constitutional amendments on Tuesday, and the race for governor between Republican Marsha Blackburn and Democrat Jerri Green had not been called on Tuesday night. Results remain unofficial until they are certified.