This story is a partnership between the Nashville Banner and the Nashville Scene. The Nashville Banner is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization focused on civic news. Visit nashvillebanner.com for more information.

Thursday marked the qualifying deadline for candidates hoping to run in August primaries for state and federal offices.

Here’s a rundown of who made the cut:

5th Congressional District

Eyes were on Metro Councilmember Courtney Johnston, who told the Banner last month that she was considering a Republican primary challenge of U.S. Rep. Andy Ogles in the district that includes part of Nashville and Williamson County, plus Maury and other counties to Nashville’s south. She turned in a qualifying petition on Thursday and her signatures are considered “pending” by state election officials. 

Tom Guarente, a Brentwood software executive, also qualified to run in the Republican primary. Would-be candidates and operatives tell the Banner the best hope for unseating Ogles is to have just one GOP challenger facing him, and candidates still have a week to withdraw from the ballot. 

On the Democratic side, Nashville’s Maryam Abolfazli, Kiran Sreepada of College Grove and Arnie Malham of Nashville qualified for the primary ballot. 

6th Congressional District

U.S. Rep. John Rose (R-Cookeville) qualified to run for reelection in the district that includes part of Nashville and counties to the east. Rose confirmed to the Tennessee Journal this week that he is considering running for governor in 2026.

The district favors Republicans, but Lore Bergman of Hendersonville, Clay Faircloth of Nashville and Cyril Focht of Cookeville qualified to run in the Democratic primary. 

7th Congressional District

U.S. Rep. Mark Green (R-Ashland City) threw a wrench in the race for the 7th District — parts of Nashville and Williamson County, plus Montgomery County and other areas to the east of Nashville — when he announced in February that he would not run for reelection, saying “our fight is not here within Washington, our fight is with Washington.” Less than a month later, he changed his mind and reentered the race. Several potential Republican successors pulled petitions when it looked like Green was out, but as of the qualifying deadline just Green and Caleb Stack of Pleasant View are on the ballot for the August primary. 

Former Nashville Mayor Megan Barry is unopposed in the Democratic primary. She spoke to the Banner about her campaign last month. 

State House

The lone open seat in Nashville’s state House delegation is District 60, the Old Hickory and Hermitage district where Democratic Rep. Darren Jernigan is not running for reelection. 

Democrats qualifying for the August primary include Tyler Brasher, Shaundelle Brooks and John Parrish. On the Republican side, Chad Bobo, recently of House Speaker Cameron Sexton’s office, and Christopher Huff will face off for the nomination.

The rest of Nashville’s Democratic state House incumbents qualified for the ballot and are likely to win reelection. 

Democratic Rep. Bo Mitchell will face Republican Jennifer Frensley Webb, recently elected to the Metro Council, in House District 50. Democratic Rep. Bob Freeman in District 56 will face a primary challenger in Nick Forster-Benson. 

State Senate

The lone Nashville state Senate seat up for reelection is District 20, which includes Davidson County’s wealthy southwestern region and rings around the county’s west, north and east. Sen. Heidi Campbell is unopposed in the Democratic primary. She will face Republican Wyatt Rampy, a real estate professional who ran for state House in 2022. 

U.S. Senate

There is no real threat to Republican U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn’s chances of securing the Republican nomination for reelection in August, though she is facing nominal opposition. 

On the Democratic side, Marquita Bradshaw, Lola Denise Brown, Gloria Johnson, Kevin Lee McCants and Civil Miller-Watkins all qualified for the opportunity to be the standard-bearer in the uphill battle to unseat Blackburn. Johnson, a state representative from Knoxville, has attracted the most attention so far via fundraising and her platform at the legislature, though Bradshaw of Memphis won the Democratic nomination for Senate in 2020 facing a candidate with the support of the party establishment. Johnson is also unopposed for reelection to the state House, though legislation aiming at preventing candidates from running for two positions at the same time remains active in the state legislature. 

Around the state

In Senate District 18 (Sumner and Trousdale counties), Sen. Ferrell Haile (R-Gallatin) will face a primary challenge from Chris Spencer of Hendersonville. Spencer is a founding member of the Sumner County Constitutional Republicans, a conservative splinter group that has won some local seats in the Middle Tennessee county. 

In Williamson County, Democrats Kurt Kosack and Claire Jones are vying to take on Republican Rep. Gino Bulso of Brentwood. In District 65, where Franklin GOP Rep. Sam Whitson is retiring, Republicans Lee Reeves, James Turner, Brian Beathard and Michelle Foreman, a well-known Nashville conservative who now lists Primm Springs as her home, will seek the nomination.

The son of U.S. Rep. Diana Harshbarger, Kingsport pharmacist Bobby Harshbarger, is challenging state Sen. Jon Lundberg (R-Bristol) in the Republican primary.

Democrats will try to flip a handful of seats around the state, among them District 75 including part of Montgomery County. There, Allie Phillips is unopposed in the Democratic primary and will face off against Republican Rep. Jeff Burkhart.

In Shelby County’s District 96, Democratic Rep. Dwayne Thompson is retiring. Republicans are not challenging for the seat, and multiple Democrats qualified for the primary to succeed him, including Gabby Salinas of Memphis, who came close to winning state House and Senate seats in recent cycles.

See the tentative list of candidates statewide here.

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