MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Tennessee candidate for U.S. Senate Marquita Bradshaw says what’s happening in the presidential race raises questions about the results here in Tennessee.
As of Thursday, with 94 % of votes counted, Bradshaw is losing her bid to fill the seat held by retiring senator Lamar Alexander. But two days after her bid for statewide office has ended, she isn’t calling it quits.
“An election is not complete until every vote is counted and recorded,” Bradshaw said.
She was defeated by Republican Bill Hagerty, who got 62 % of the vote to her 35%. But Bradshaw says when the race was called by the Associated Press, there were still counties that had not been counted.
“Shelby County was still reporting in. Davidson county was still reporting in and a lot of the rural counties were still reporting in,” Bradshaw said.
She did end up winning Shelby and Davidson counties.
“If you look at what’s going on around the nation, in that the presidential race is undecided. Even here in Tennessee, we have votes that have not been counted yet,” Bradshaw said.
It’s why Bradshaw is calling into question news outlets that reported AP’s prediction shortly after the polls closed.
“You had people who were calling races all across the nation with less than 30% of the vote in. That is unacceptable,” Bradshaw said. “It causes chaos and makes people think their voices don’t matter.”
The Associated Press says it calls races when it is clear there is no path to victory for the trailing candidate.
Bradshaw was adamant about the race not being over when she spoke to supporters election night.
“This is not a concession speech,” she said on election night. “It is on the principal of democracy. So, in true South Memphis style, we will fight, and we gone go find my votes.”
“Moving forward, I will always work on protecting democracy. That’s why I entered this U.S. Senate race, and I was able to bring together people of different religions and ideologies, conservatives, socialists,” Bradshaw said.
Bradshaw says she is starting a non-profit to educate elected officials about the environment, one of the main issues she campaigned on.
“We held our own with just the minimal amount of money,” Bradshaw said. “We are just beginning. I can’t wait to see what we do next together.”
