Glenn Jacobs just wrapped up his political career in Knox County. Now he may be positioned to start a new one in Washington.
Axios reports that Jacobs, the WWE Hall of Famer known to wrestling fans as Kane, is viewed as a top candidate to fill Marsha Blackburn’s U.S. Senate seat if she wins Tennessee’s governor race in November. Blackburn, the heavy favorite over Democratic nominee Jerri Green and a handful of independents, has confirmed she plans to serve out her Senate term until she is sworn in as governor, which means the power to appoint her own successor would fall to her rather than current Gov. Bill Lee.
Blackburn’s campaign has downplayed the idea that a shortlist already exists. Campaign manager Abigail Sigler told Axios there will be “no discussions” about a potential replacement until the appropriate time, adding that Blackburn’s focus is solely on winning in November.
How The Appointment Would Work
Whoever gets the nod would serve a partial term until the next statewide election in 2028, with a full six-year term up for grabs in 2030. It wouldn’t be uncharted territory nationally. Governors have filled Senate vacancies by appointment 34 times since 2000, according to the U.S. Senate Historical Office. It would, however, be new ground for Tennessee, and constitutional experts have flagged questions about the timing of Blackburn’s resignation and swearing-in.
Jacobs, a Republican, spent eight years as Knox County mayor before being term-limited out of office on September 1. Rather than run for governor himself, he threw his support behind Blackburn and served as her campaign treasurer. That move is widely seen as clearing his own path toward the Senate seat.
The Trump Factor
Jacobs may already have a friend in a very high place. President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social back in May that Jacobs “has a BIG political future in Tennessee,” calling him a “great guy.” Jacobs responded at the time by thanking the president and noting that Tennessee is “all in for the America First Agenda.”
He isn’t the only name in the mix. U.S. Reps. Tim Burchett and Chuck Fleischmann have also expressed interest in the seat, and former CoreCivic CEO Damon Hininger, a major Blackburn donor, is considered a contender as well.
For now, Jacobs has stayed noncommittal about his next move, telling WATE after leaving office that any decision would have to be right for his family and that he’d need to weigh whether running one county prepared him to represent all 95. Read more on his exit from the Knox County mayor’s office here.
