Signs don’t vote: Tennessee state Senate candidates in Chattanooga push for last-minute votes

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — Signs don’t equal votes, state Sen. Bo Watson said Tuesday, standing among dozens of political posterboards in front of a polling location on Signal Mountain in Hamilton County. 

The Republican has spent two decades in the state Senate and is running for re-election to District 11, which covers northern Chattanooga in Hamilton County, including a portion of the city proper, as well as Collegedale and Red Bank. Democratic challenger and first-time candidate Tim Roberts aims to take the long-held seat. 

Watson said he remembers when he first ran for state office in 2004, he went out and bought campaign signs after seeing a local candidate with tons. The candidate with all the signs ended up losing by a wide margin, Watson said. 

Watson said after that election he was told ‘signs don’t vote; people do.’

And, in this election, people have. Early voting in Hamilton County exceeded both 2022 and 2018 turnout, according to the Hamilton County Election Commission. 

“I think any political person would say, ‘Well, I’m encouraged that people are voting because that is an important privilege that we have in this state and in this country, and you know you’re excited to see people exercise that privilege,’” Watson said.

Despite having an opponent, Watson said he isn’t running against an individual but rather an environment where Democrats are energized and are campaigning. 

“We’ve basically been running against the Democrat(ic) Party here locally,” he said.

Polling predicts a strong night for the Democratic Party nationwide, but Watson said he is confident that Tennessee will elect Republicans up and down the ballot.

“I think that Republicans and the Republican ideology reflects the majority of Tennesseans’ view and Tennessee’s view of America,” Watson said.

Republicans hold a supermajority at the state level, and President Donald Trump won the state by nearly 30 percentage points in 2024. 

Watson’s Senate seat is one of seven held by Republicans that have a partisan lean of less than 60% toward the GOP, which historically have a higher chance of flipping in a wave election. 

In this kind of climate, you obviously want to protect against that,” Watson said about his seat flipping. “I feel really good about the campaign we’ve run. I feel really good about our chances.”

Watson said he feels confident, but he’s not taking a win for granted and so has run a hard campaign.

Democratic opponent Roberts said he’s told people the race is like looking for a rock on a sandy beach. He said he doesn’t know about a blue wave touching Tennessee, but high early voting turnout shows there is surely excitement. 

Roberts said he ran because he thinks people should have options, would like to see the supermajority broken up, and disagreed with a Watson bill that ultimately failed, that would have allowed public schools to deny education to students without legal documentation.

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“If I win today, I’m ready to get to work,” Roberts said. “If I don’t win, I mean that’s fine too. I mean it’s there you shouldn’t lose hope. There’s always ways to do things. There’s communities you can work with that have been underserved for years, and just if you have a voice, you can bring attention to that.”

Watson didn’t say whether he would vote to make Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson Speaker.

Watson, who has received money from Johnson’s political action committee in this election, could be a key vote among the 14 required to win Johnson the position, which also serves as lieutenant governor.

“I have to win my race first, so I am really a one step at a time person,” Watson said. “There are 27 members — at least currently. So again, Bo Watson has to take care of Bo Watson first, and I’ll worry about those things on Wednesday.” 

Johnson and Sen. Paul Bailey, a Sparta Republican, are vying for the chance to succeed Lt. Gov. Randy McNally, who is retiring after nearly four decades in office. 

Johnson’s Political Action Committee, JACK PAC, contributed $15,400 directly to Watson and spent another $30,413.88 on advertising for Watson, according to the PAC’s pre-general expenditure filings.