U.S. Senator Blackburn of Tennessee is seeking re-election against Democratic state Rep. Gloria Johnson

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Tennessee voters will decide whether to re-elect the Republican U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn for a second term or choose a Democratic state Representative Gloria Johnson.

Tennessee hasn’t elected a Democrat to a statewide position in nearly two decades, but Johnson hopes her recent meteoric rise to fame will nearly expelled by state lawmakers Last year will attract plenty of voters.

Blackburn has run a much more subdued campaign than six years ago, when an open seat forced a heated race between Republican and former Democratic Gov. Phil Bredesen. Blackburn largely avoided Johnson throughout the campaign, refusing to participate in debates with the Democrat.

Johnson gained national attention when she joined fellow Democratic state Reps. Justin Pearson and Justin Jones in walking to the front of the House of Representatives with a megaphone as hundreds of gun control advocates flooded the Capitol to express their support for imposing more restrictions on firearms. The demonstration took place just days after a shooting at a school 6 people killedincluding three young children, at a private Christian elementary school in Nashville.

The violation of House protocols sparked outrage among Republican lawmakers, who demanded they be deported — a punishment that had only been used a handful of times since Reconstruction.

The showdown between Democratic lawmakers and the Republican supermajority drew national attention, boosting the profile of the group — dubbed the “Tennessee Three” — in the US.

Johnson, 62, has criticized Blackburn’s policy positions, arguing that most Tennesseans want “common sense gun legislation” and better access to reproductive care. While on the campaign trail, Johnson also shared her own story about the need for an abortion to save her life in light of Tennessee passing a sweeping abortion ban that includes only a handful of narrow exceptions. Johnson has emphasized that she likely wouldn’t have been able to make the same choice under the state’s current ban.

Blackburn, 72, has opposed gun control measures throughout her political career and has dismissed questions about whether she supports a national abortion ban, saying she supports the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to uphold a constitutional right to abortion undo and that the issue should be left to voters. Before Roe v. Wade was overturned, she repeatedly voted for a bill that would ban abortion after 20 weeks.

Blackburn’s victory in 2018 marked the first time a woman was elected U.S. senator in Tennessee.