Marquita Bradshaw, a Memphis Democrat whose work has centered on environmental justice, is running for U.S. Senate in Tennessee's Nov. 3, 2026, general election.

Bradshaw faces Republican Bill Hagerty, whom she challenged in 2020, along with independent candidates Andrew Gerena, Catherine Barcel Whitson, David Sutman Jr., James William Macon III, Jeremy Dean Hearn, Robert Jones, Tharon Chandler and Yoshi D. Matthews, according to BallotReady election data. Bradshaw is certified for the ballot. If elected, she would represent all of Tennessee in the U.S. Senate.

Candidate information

  • Party: Democratic
  • Residence: Memphis, Tennessee
  • Born: Jan. 12, 1974, Memphis
  • Education: Bachelor's degree in journalism, University of Memphis (2019)

Bradshaw describes herself on her campaign website as a tenth-generation South Memphis resident who has built on her family's tradition of labor and community advocacy.

Experience and public service

Bradshaw was a co-founder of Youth Terminating Pollution, served as environmental justice committee chair for the Sierra Club Tennessee Chapter and was volunteer project director for the Defense Depot Memphis Tennessee Concerned Citizens Committee, according to her Wikipedia entry.

She founded Sowing Justice, a nonpartisan nonprofit focused on civic engagement in pollution-affected communities, in December 2020. She serves as its executive director.

Her work history also includes positions as a recruiter for the AFL-CIO from 2007 to 2009 and as an administrative aide at Public Partnership from 2016 to 2023, according to BallotReady profile data.

Bradshaw ran for U.S. Senate in 2020, when she became the first African American woman to win a major political party nomination in any statewide race in Tennessee, according to Wikipedia. She lost the general election to Hagerty by 27 percentage points, the Nashville Banner reported. She ran again in 2024 but lost the Democratic primary to Gloria Johnson.

On the issues

The following positions are drawn from Bradshaw's campaign website and her responses to a Knox News voter's guide questionnaire. All statements reflect the candidate's own claims.

Healthcare: Bradshaw says she would fight for legislation to prevent medical bankruptcies. She calls for simplifying the healthcare system and including mental, dental, vision, reproductive health and addiction services in every healthcare conversation, according to her campaign website. She says Tennesseans are choosing between medical bills and mortgage payments.

Environment and energy: Bradshaw says she supports the Green New Deal and wants to transition Tennessee away from fossil fuel dependence. She told Knox News: "When gas goes up, everything goes up, especially the things working people need." She also calls for a national moratorium on data centers until their energy, water and pollution impacts are fully understood, saying costs are being passed to working people.

Economy and wages: Bradshaw says she supports raising the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour and providing incentives and investments to small and medium-sized business owners, according to her campaign website.

Education: Bradshaw calls for funding universal pre-K, building toward free technical, community, HBCU and public college education, and relieving current student debt, according to her campaign website.

Criminal justice and guns: Bradshaw says she supports universal background checks, red flag laws, gun safety education and licensing requirements. She also calls for community policing, restorative justice and an overhaul of the justice system to address what she describes as racial and income bias, according to her campaign website.

Endorsements

Bradshaw has been endorsed by the AFL-CIO, according to BallotReady profile data.

Candidate positions were drawn from Bradshaw's campaign website and her responses to the Knox News voter's guide. The Duck River Sentinel did not interview the candidate for this profile.