U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), the GOP nominee for governor of Tennessee, amplified her recent interview with The Tennessee Firefly, in which she said she has worked hard to put guardrails in place for children when it comes to AI and “to root out bias in Artificial Intelligence.”
Blackburn wrote with the clip: “Our kids always come first. I’ve fought for commonsense guardrails on AI, and I’ll keep fighting as your governor.”
First?
•19% of Tennessee children live in poverty.
•Nearly 1 in 5 face food insecurity.
•Guns are the leading external cause of death for children.
•We rank last in the nation in per-student public-school spending.
•And our fetal mortality rate is also higher than the… https://t.co/RZeTJOVycK— Jerri Green (@Jerri_M_Green) August 20, 2026
Blackburn’s Democratic opponent, Memphis City Councilwoman and interim Chief Public Defender Jerri Green, responded to Blackburn’s post: “First?” (with the list below):
“• 19% of Tennessee children live in poverty.
• Nearly 1 in 5 face food insecurity.
• Guns are the leading external cause of death for children.
• We rank last in the nation in per-student public-school spending.
• And our fetal mortality rate is also higher than the national average.”
The Tennessee Firefly also interviewed Green, and asked for her opinion regarding the use of AI in classrooms.
Green, a mother of three school-aged children, replied: “Elementary and middle school are definitely too young to be relying on AI for any core learning. At that age, children are learning how to socialize, how to read human emotions, and how to problem-solve on their own. Handing an iPad running a chatbot to a child in elementary school isn’t ‘innovation,’ it’s a shortcut that stunts genuine cognitive and social growth.”
Blackburn told the Firefly that “much like other subjects, education leaders will determine what type of AI use is ‘age-appropriate’ for elementary and middle school students.”
Blackburn, who has said in campaign ads that “data centers are going to be a good and important part of Tennessee’s economic growth, but we’ve got to be thoughtful about their placement,” has raised more than $10 million in donations for her campaign, which WKRN reported includes more than $100,000 in campaign contributions from employees of AI and data-center companies, including Anthropic and Oracle. Anthropic also contributed $250,000 to a PAC supporting Blackburn’s gubernatorial bid. Green’s campaign has raised less than $1 million.
[NOTE: Oracle is currently building a new 70-acre campus in the River North area of Nashville, Tennessee.]