It has been just a little over a week since Senator Marsha Blackburn officially announced her campaign for governor of Tennessee, but the race is already heating up. Last week Blackburn seemed to decline having any interest in debating her Republican primary opponent, 6th District Congressman John Rose. 

Now, Rose has left no doubt that he wants to debate Blackburn. Often. Appearing on NewsChannel 5+ Inside Politics this weekend Rose pointed to his business experience as a reason he would be a better governor than Blackburn. “My opponent is a career legislator. That’s the experience she has,” Rose said. He regularly touts his experience as an 8th-generation farmer who also created and sold two businesses as a distinction between him and Blackburn.

Despite early polls showing Blackburn with a commanding lead, Rose says those numbers are based on name recognition and that he will have the resources to get his message out and overcome her in the year until the GOP primary next August.

Rose specifically said he hoped Sen. Blackburn would agree to one or more debates, but so far, she has been non-committal. “The people of Tennessee deserve to know what she would do as governor. Why does she want to be governor? And I think a debate or debates would be the way to get at that,” Rose told Inside Politics host Ben Hall. 

Blackburn and Rose have both been crisscrossing the state and making numerous appearances as the Senate and House on currently on their August recess. So far they have not had any joint appearances. However, both are expected to attend the annual GOP Statesman’s Dinner on August 23 in Nashville. 

Steve Gill is Publisher of TriStar Daily.