Joanne Sowell
Nashville attorney Joanne Sowell is among the first candidates seeking to unseat Republican U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn next year.
Sowell filed paperwork establishing a Democratic campaign for Senate with the Federal Election Commission last month. Currently, Sowell is an attorney working on corporate law and mergers and acquisitions at the Wood Stabell Law Group, whose managing attorney Nancy Wood Stabell is listed as Sowell’s campaign treasurer.
Sowell attended the University of Tennessee and Tulane University Law School and has worked or volunteered with Room In The Inn, Emerge Tennessee and Impact100. Her husband, Joe Sowell, is chief development officer at HCA Healthcare.
"Tennessee deserves a senator who is committed to working across the aisle on the issues that matter the most, one who will represent the state with dignity and put partisanship aside," Sowell says through a spokesperson. "Stay tuned."
Any Democratic nominee will face long odds against Blackburn in 2024. In 2018, Blackburn handily beat former Gov. Phil Bredesen, a well-funded and well-known Democrat, to win the seat.
At least one other Democrat, Dylan Fain of Nashville, has filed paperwork establishing a campaign. Other Democrats are currently weighing their options for 2024.
"There are several people that I know of that are seriously considering a run who have amazing track records of being elected and getting things done in our state, and that's the kind of person that we need to put forward as a candidate," says former Nashville Mayor Megan Barry, who declined to discuss her own interest in the race.
State Rep. Gloria Johnson, a Knoxville Democrat and one of the so-called Tennessee Three, tells Scene sister publication the Nashville Post she is "definitely considering a run."
"A lot of people are reaching out saying we need a fighter for Tennessee families in the U.S. Senate, so I am seriously exploring it," Johnson says.
This article first ran via our sister publication, the Nashville Post.
