Rep Martha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) and former Gov. Phil Bredesen (D-Tenn.) walloped the competition in Thursday night’s Tennessee Senate primaries to face off in November’s midterm elections to replace retiring Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.).

In the GOP-dominated state, Blackburn received nearly twice as many votes in the Republican Senate primary than Bredesen registered in his Democratic race, taking in 603,278 votes (84.5 percent), with her runner-up challenger, Andrew Pettigrew, only taking in 15.5 percent of the vote (110,990) with 98 percent of the precincts reporting, according to CNN.

On the other end, Bredesen landed 344,605 votes (91.5 percent) to thoroughly dominate the Democratic Senate primary, as the former Tennessee governor’s two rivals tallied up just over 8 percent of the vote, with Davis landing just 19,894 votes (5.3 percent) and Wolfe getting a mere 12,085 votes (3.2 percent) with 98 percent of the precincts in.

Tennessee to stay a GOP stronghold?

During the 2016 election, the state known as the home of the University of Tennessee Volunteers turned from bright orange to bright red, with President Donald Trump trouncing his rival Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton by 26 points, and with his backing, Blackburn scored an easy victory Thursday night. But her upcoming November showdown with the state’s former Democratic governor will not be such an easy contest, as Bredesen’s popularity is projected to make the race a real nail-biter to the end.

“Blackburn, who has served in the House since 2003, won President Trump’s endorsement during her primary and defeated trucker Aaron Pettigrew,” The Hill reported. “Bredesen meanwhile defeated two challengers – Gary Davis and John Wolfe – who faced an uphill battle against the former governor's name recognition.”

But with Blackburn’s ties to Trump, many believe that his support could be just enough to put her over the top.

“Blackburn has a close relationship with the Trump administration after serving on the president's White House transition team last year – a connection which she played to her advantage in the GOP primary,” The Hill’s John Bowden noted.

In fact, the president appealed to his enormous social media following to bolster Blackburn’s campaign and ensure victory.

"[Blackburn] is a wonderful woman who has always been there when we have needed her,” Trump tweeted back in April. “Great on the Military, Border Security and Crime. Loves and works hard for the people of Tennessee. She has my full endorsement, and I will be there to campaign with her!"

The lawmaker echoed many of Trump’s tough-on-immigration policies as being at the heart of her campaign for the Senate seat, including her support of the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and its fight to keep criminal aliens off the streets – not to mention her intention to keep Tennessee free from having any sanctuary cities unlawfully harboring illegal aliens.

“At her primary victory party Thursday, Blackburn said Tennesseans want someone who will support the president and help him finish the agenda they elected him to implement,” The Associated Press (AP) reported in a Fox 23 post divulged during the celebration. “She says securing the nation's borders is crucial to stop human trafficking and gangs. She also railed against sanctuary cities.”

She makes no apologies about the politically incorrect views she shares with the president, even though many of them are not as popular with women voters as they are with male voters.

“Blackburn could become the first female U.S. senator elected by Tennessee voters,” the AP continued. “She calls herself a ‘hardcore, card-carrying Tennessee conservative’ who would fight for President Donald Trump's agenda.”

Blackburn pulled off a landslide victory Thursday night despite not having the full support of the Republican incumbent Corker – perhaps because of his frequently voiced anti-Trump sentiment.

“Corker – who has been a frequent critic of the president – has stated that he won’t campaign against Bredesen and has offered only a lukewarm endorsement for Blackburn,” Bowden pointed out.

Some fear that Corker’s lack of enthusiasm to promote his potential Republican successor could tip the scale from red to blue in November – especially with one poll in the spring indicating that there will be a very tight race in favor of the Democrat.

“A poll of the race in April showed Bredesen with a small lead over Blackburn, despite Republican Corker's wide reelection victory in 2012 with 64 percent of the vote,” Bowden added.

Dems not ready to throw in the towel in Tennessee

In red states like Tennessee, Democrats are maneuvering to make up the ground they lost during the Obama years and the 2016 election, and Bredesen’s dominating Thursday night victory was a step in the right direction for the blue party.

“Democrats are hoping to pick up a net gain of two seats in the Senate during November's midterms in their bid to retake control of the upper chamber,” the AP explained.

November’s matchup between Bredesen and Blackburn is a must-win for Democrats, who are a hair away from overturning the Republican’s lead in the Senate.

“The race holds major implications for Democrats' chances for overturning the 51–49 Republican Senate majority,” the AP stressed. “Polls have shown a close contest for the seat currently held by retiring Republican Sen. Bob Corker.”

The former governor appealed to Trump backers by assuring Tennesseans that he is more than willing to support the president on a number of items on his agenda.

“Bredesen is running as an independent thinker who says he will work with President Donald Trump when his ideas make sense for Tennessee and oppose the president when they don't,” the AP report added.

Tennessee’s other significant races

Unlike the relatively tame Senate races, Tennessee’s gubernatorial rivalries became feisty and heated over the past few months leading up to Thursday’s Republican and Democratic showdowns.

“The race to be the Volunteer State's next governor came into focus on Thursday, [as] attention in recent weeks has been on the competitive and nasty fight for the Republican nomination among Rep. Diane Black and businessmen Bill Lee and Randy Boyd,” CNN reported. “Lee will win the GOP nomination, CNN projects, defeating Black, who was backed by Vice President Mike Pence.”

Trump’s lack of commitment to Black’s campaign might have hurt her in the end.

“In the governor's race, Black was widely seen as the front-runner for months, buoyed by her vast personal wealth and ability to self-fund much of her campaign, but then she ran into Lee and Boyd – equally well-financed businessmen,” CNN’s Dan Merica explained. “Trump – despite his eagerness to jump into Republican primaries across the country – had stayed out of the Tennessee gubernatorial race.”

Pence’s backing of Black was apparently not enough to put her over the top – especially without his boss’ help.

“While Pence threw his support behind the Republican lawmaker, Trump's lack of an endorsement had been seen in the state as a death knell for Black, who – like the other candidates – has tried to run toward the President,” Merica emphasized. “Trump did visit the state in May to stump for Blackburn – who spoke at his rally – but barely mentioned the Republican gubernatorial candidate.”

At that rally, Trump gave Blackburn little more than lip service.

"She's in a big race," Trump said about Blackburn before the crowd, according to CNN. "Good luck, Diane."

Big money came into play in the GOP race for governor.

“With the race wide open, the spending on the Republican side was astronomical, [a]ccording to a count from The Tennessean, $46 million has been spent in the Republican gubernatorial primary, with Boyd spending a whopping $19 million of his own money and Black pouring in $12 million of her own fortune,” Merica informed. “Despite that spending, political watchers in the state believed Lee had the momentum headed into Thursday's primary – even though he pumped only $5 million in personal contributions into his campaign.”

On the other side of the political spectrum, the Democratic race for a gubernatorial nominee was less competitive, with many believing the race was over before it started.

“Former Nashville Mayor Karl Dean – who significantly outspent House Minority Leader Craig Fitzhugh – [won] the Democratic nomination,” Merica announced.

Another race could be of some concern to Republicans.

“While there was little intrigue in primary contests for Tennessee's seats in the House, Rep. David Kustoff did find himself in a fight against George Flinn – a radiologist and perennial self-funding candidate who is outspending the sitting member 2-to-1 ahead of Thursday's Republican primary,” Merica noted. “Republicans had grown mildly worried that, in an unpredictable 2018 campaign season, Flinn could upset Kustoff, who earned a Trump endorsement last week.”

Seeing the significance of Kustoff’s nomination, Trump made it a point to trumpet his support.

"Congressman David Kustoff has been a champion for the Trump Agenda – I greatly appreciate his support," Trump tweeted to his 50 million followers. "David is strong on crime and borders, loves our Military, Vets and Second Amendment."