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

Tennessee hasn’t elected a Democrat to state office in nearly two decades, but Johnson hopes his recent meteoric rise to fame almost being expelled by state legislators last year will attract enough voters.

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

Johnson gained national attention when he joined fellow Democratic state Reps. Justin Pearson and Justin Jones as they walked to the front of the House chamber with a megaphone as hundreds of gun control advocates flooded the Capitol to show their support for imposing more restrictions on guns. firearms. The demonstration took place just days after a school shooting that killed 6 peopleincluding three young children, at a private Christian elementary school in Nashville.

The violation of House protocols sparked outrage among Republican lawmakers, who demanded his expulsion, a punishment that had been used only a few times since Reconstruction.

The confrontation between Democratic lawmakers and the Republican supermajority attracted national attention, amplifying the profiles of the group, nicknamed the “Tennessee Three,” across the United States.

Johnson, 62, has criticized Blackburn’s policy positions, arguing that most Tennesseans want “common sense gun legislation” and better access to reproductive care. While campaigning, Johnson also shared her own story of needing an abortion to save her life in light of Tennessee enacting a broad abortion ban that includes only a handful of limited exemptions. Johnson has emphasized that he likely would not have been able to make the same decision under the state’s current ban.

Blackburn, 72, has opposed gun control measures throughout his political career and has deflected questions about whether he supports a national abortion ban, saying he supports the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn a constitutional right to abortion and that the issue should be left to voters. Before Roe v. was overturned. Wade, she repeatedly voted to promote a bill that would have banned abortion at 20 weeks.

Blackburn’s 2018 victory marked the first time a woman was elected in Tennessee as a United States senator.