Also: More outside spending in final weeks

A new report from data analytics firm TargetSmart shows that GOP-affiliated voters in Tennessee are turning out for early voting in greater numbers than Democratic voters.

(Note: NBC News conducted the analysis of the TargetSmart data. TargetSmart CEO Tom Bonier said he did not agree with NBC's analysis in this case, saying the news organization "missed on this one.")



The analysis found that 63 percent of early voters in Tennessee were Republicans, compared to just 30 percent with a Democratic affiliation and 7 percent unaffiliated.

Women voters have outpaced male voters 52 percent to 48 percent in the state. Democrats Phil Bredesen and Karl Dean, respectively running for Senate and governor, have outpolled their Republican counterparts among women voters.

As early voting is underway and with two weeks until Election Day, outside spending continues to fuel the Senate race between Bredesen and Republican Marsha Blackburn.

The Pilot gas station chain run by Gov. Bill Haslam’s family donated $1 million to a political committee supporting Blackburn, the Associated Press reported.

The donation went to the Senate Leadership Fund, a group tied to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. The group has spent more than $10 million on the race, much of it on ads attacking Bredesen.

According to the Associated Press, overall outside spending in the race has surpassed $32 million, mostly for Blackburn.

Another group is spending money in an effort to increase black voter turnout in Tennessee. BlackPAC will spend $8 million on turnout efforts for Democratic Senate candidates in Tennessee, Missouri, Florida, Indiana and Nevada and for Georgia Democratic gubernatorial nominee Stacey Abrams.

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