Marsha Blackburn

Marsha Blackburn
Official portrait, 2019
United States Senator
from Tennessee
Assumed office
January 3, 2019
Serving with Bill Hagerty
Preceded byBob Corker
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Tennessee's 7th district
In office
January 3, 2003 – January 3, 2019
Preceded byEd Bryant
Succeeded byMark Green
Member of the Tennessee Senate
from the 23rd district
In office
January 12, 1999 – January 3, 2003
Preceded byKeith Jordan
Succeeded byJim Bryson
Executive Director of the Tennessee Film, Entertainment, and Music Commission
In office
February 1995 – June 1997
GovernorDon Sundquist
Preceded byDancy Jones
Succeeded byAnne Pope
Personal details
Born
Mary Marsha Wedgeworth

(1952-06-06) June 6, 1952 (age 71)
Laurel, Mississippi, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
Spouse
Chuck Blackburn
(m. 1975)
Children2
Residence(s)Brentwood, Tennessee, U.S.
EducationMississippi State University (BS)
WebsiteSenate website

Mary Marsha Blackburn (née Wedgeworth; born June 6, 1952) is an American politician and businesswoman serving as the senior United States senator from Tennessee. Blackburn was first elected to the Senate in 2018. A member of the Republican Party, Blackburn was a state senator from 1999 to 2003 and represented Tennessee's 7th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives from 2003 to 2019, during which time the National Journal rated her among the House's most conservative members.

On November 6, 2018, Blackburn became the first woman to be elected to the U.S. Senate from Tennessee, defeating Democratic former Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen. Blackburn became the state's senior senator in January 2021 upon the retirement of Senator Lamar Alexander. A supporter of the Tea Party movement, Blackburn is a staunch backer of former president Donald Trump. Upon the retirement of Congressman Jim Cooper in 2023, she became the dean of Tennessee's congressional delegation.