Democratic gubernatorial nominee Jerri Green is set to make her second campaign stop in Tipton County this week – and the fundraising event is sold out.
Green, a Memphis City Council member and public defender, won the Democratic primary in August with about 70 percent of the vote, defeating four other candidates for the nomination. She will face Republican nominee Marsha Blackburn in the Nov. 3 general election to succeed term-limited Gov. Bill Lee.
This will mark Green’s second visit to Tipton County since launching her campaign. She previously held a meet-and-greet at Liberty Hall Event Center in February.
Green’s team said she wants to hear directly from Covington residents about what matters to them and their vision for the state. Her campaign has described the race as a contest over the direction of state leadership and policies affecting working families.
Green’s platform centers on expanding health care access, lowering costs for working families and fully funding public schools. She has pledged to direct $50 million in Temporary Assistance for Needy Families funding toward clearing child care waitlists statewide and has said she would sign an executive order protecting reproductive rights and shielding doctors who provide women’s health care from prosecution. She has also proposed using TANF funds to reduce medical debt and has called for raising the minimum wage.
Green has also pushed Blackburn to debate her ahead of the November election, formally proposing a series of four debates earlier this month in Nashville, Memphis, Knoxville and Brentwood. Blackburn declined, telling reporters she would not share a stage with a candidate she has described as a socialist, a characterization Green disputes.
Green responded to Blackburn’s decision in a social media statement, calling her opponent “a coward” and saying Blackburn was avoiding questions from voters. Blackburn’s campaign has said she is instead focused on meeting Tennesseans directly through her own campaign events. Blackburn has not held any campaign events open to the public.
Green has lived in Memphis, Nashville and Knoxville over the course of her career. She has served on the Memphis City Council since 2023 and previously worked as a senior policy adviser and deputy chief of staff under Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris. She is a graduate of the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and Georgetown University Law Center.
Tennessee voters must be registered by Oct. 5 to participate in the general election. Early voting runs from Oct. 14 through Oct. 29.
The fundraiser is scheduled for Thursday, Sept. 17, at 6 p.m. at Liberty Hall Event Center, 204 E. Liberty Ave. in Covington.
