Tennessee is so red that President Donald Trump won it by 26 points in 2016.
But the southern state's consequential Senate race between Democratic former Gov. Phil Bredesen and GOP Rep. Marsha Blackburn is one of the tightest in the country.
Blackburn — a staunch Trump ally and one of the most conservative members of the House — is running on Trump's tax cuts and deregulation and her promise to be a virtual rubber stamp for his agenda.
Meanwhile, Bredesen, a popular former Nashville mayor and two-term governor[1], is selling his centrist candidacy with the promise that he'll alleviate Washington dysfunction by working across the aisle.
Read more: Read Business Insider's interviews with Marsha Blackburn and Phil Bredesen[2]
Tennessee's voters have complicated thoughts on the candidates and the national political moment.
Ron Deese, 60, voted for Hillary Clinton in 2016 and for former President Barack Obama twice, but is fully behind Blackburn this year — not because he doesn't like the Democratic alternative, but because he trusts his congresswoman and isn't loyal to any party.
"I just like her, I think she's honest. I think she's pretty well done what she said she was gonna do," said Deese, who works in the telecommunications industry in Nashville. "I don't pull one lever ... I vote for the person I think is gonna do the best job."
Walt and Margie Murphy, a retired couple, are registered Democrats and Bredesen fans, but their son will likely vote Republican, they say, and their four grandchildren are independents.
Margie, 76, thinks many will vote the GOP ticket for one reason, "money."
"The economy's good, so let's not
