2026 forecast · Tennessee 9th

Brent Taylor is favored to win Tennessee's 9th District.

Justin Pearson vs Brent Taylor, an open seat. The model has Taylor ahead by 3.8 points, winning 72 percent of 2,000 simulated elections.

Lean RModel R +3.8Polls R +0.0Updated October 22, 2026
Justin Pearson
Democrat
47.0%
121,091 projected votes
Brent Taylor
Republican
50.8%
130,807 projected votes
72%Taylor
28%Pearson
Taylor favoredEach square is one simulated election night, Taylor wins about 72 of 100
RatingLean R72% chance for Taylor
Model marginR +3.8Polls R +0.0
80 percent rangeD +4.8 to R +12.42,000 simulations
Projected votes257,636Taylor 50.8%

The district map

Every district in the state, shaded by its rating

Tennessee districts

9 districts
Safe DLikely DLean DToss upLean RLikely RSafe R

Vote share

Each candidate's projected share and the range of 80 percent of simulations

Justin PearsonDemocrat · 28% to win
47.0%
Brent TaylorRepublican · 72% to win
50.8%

Scale runs from 25 to 75 percent. The dot is the forecast, the band is the 80 percent range and the brighter tick marks 50 percent.

Projected district vote

257,636 votes
CandidateVotesShare
Brent Taylor R130,80750.8%
Justin Pearson D121,09147.0%
Dennis Clark I5,7372.2%
Total257,636100%

Each candidate's expected vote in the On Point simulation, at the forecast's projected turnout.

The trend

Each side's chance of winning over the forecast's recent updates

0%25%50%75%100%28% Pearson72% Taylor14 updates agoToday

Polling

Every poll in the average, and how the model reads it

The Tennessee governor polling average
25%30%35%40%45%50%55%MayJunJulAugSepOct32.6Green43.8Blackburn
The line is the On Point average: a robust LOWESS fit through the polls, weighted by recency, sample, voter screen and pollster grade, refit three times so outliers count for lessDot size is each poll's weight todayHover or use the arrow keys to read any day
What moves the average today
Spry StrategiesOct 16 · 635 LV · C+83%Blackburn +11.5
TargetSmart (D)Sep 12 · 600 LV · NR14%Blackburn +9.0
Targoz Market ResearchAug 26 · 1,149 RV · C+2.7%Blackburn +13.0

This is the same On Point polling average as the full average page. The forecast reads the polls through its own Election Day projection, shown as the On Point average in the table below, and blends it with partisan lean and fundamentals.

Polls of the race

Full average
PollsterSampleAgeMargin
On Point averageWeighted averageR +0.0

Each margin is the poll as the pollster published it. The forecast counts every poll after its house effect and the undecided split, which is what the trail above shows; hover a margin for the counted value. Lean R and Lean D mark partisan leaning firms.

Model margin
Taylor +3.8
Chance of winning
Justin Pearson28%
Brent Taylor72%
Simulated vote
Justin Pearson47.0%
Brent Taylor50.8%
Dennis Clark2.2%
How the model gets there
Partisan leanD +21.0
FundamentalsR +4.2
With pollsR +4.1
Early vote turnoutD +0.3
With early voteR +3.8

Read from 0 ballots cast so far in Tennessee, against the party mix the forecast expected of them, with similar states and primary turnout. Early vote tracker

How we got here

From the state's partisan lean to the forecast, one stage at a time

D +25R +25Partisan leanthe state's baselineD +21.0Fundamentalsapproval, economy, candidatesR +4.2With pollsaverage R +0.0R +4.1With early voteturnout so farR +3.8
Methodology
Every county is rebuilt by simulating voters going to the polls, 2,000 times, from On Point Polling survey data, past results, and the polling average. How the model works.