Tennessee’s August primary election is Thursday, August 6, 2026. As Election Day approaches, Tennessee Firearms Association is receiving a substantial number of questions about candidate surveys, interviews, campaign contributions, and endorsements. The most common question is straightforward: Who has TFA endorsed? More precisely, the most common theme is who is TFA supporting in the Republican primary for governor.
The answer is that TFA has not endorsed any candidate.
Understanding that answer requires recognizing the important distinction between Tennessee Firearms Association and the Tennessee Firearms Association Legislative Action Committee.
Tennessee Firearms Association is a nonprofit grassroots advocacy organization recognized under §501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code. TFA is a true grassroots organization that engages government with and on behalf of its members. It and its members work for the full restoration of rights protected by the Bill of Rights, with particular emphasis on the right to keep and bear arms. TFA’s primary mission is advocacy, not campaign activity.
Federal tax law permits a §501(c)(4) organization to engage in extensive lobbying related to its mission. A §501(c)(4) organization may also engage in some political campaign activity, but that activity cannot become its primary activity, and political expenditures may have separate tax consequences. Further, state law requires that entities which engage in political endorsements or candidate opposition register and file disclosures of its fundraising and expenditures. To protect TFA’s mission, resources, and tax status, TFA follows a conservative organizational policy: TFA does not endorse or oppose candidates. Instead, TFA concentrates its election-related work on gathering and publishing information that allows voters to evaluate candidates for themselves.
TFA generally conducts candidate surveys for candidates seeking the office of governor and for candidates seeking election to the Tennessee General Assembly. The process is designed to be transparent. TFA prepares written questions concerning the Second Amendment, constitutional rights, firearms laws, judicial review, and other matters that may come before the governor or the General Assembly. The survey is mailed to every candidate identified through the applicable state records as having qualified for the office.
TFA then publishes the complete survey questions, the names of the candidates who responded, each candidate’s answers, and a numerical score based on the candidate’s affirmative responses. TFA also reports when a candidate fails or declines to respond.
TFA does not assign candidates subjective letter grades such as “A,” “B,” or “C.” Such grades can conceal how an organization reached its conclusion and can allow personal preference or favoritism to influence the result. TFA instead publishes the candidates’ own answers so that members and voters can read the questions, review the responses, and reach their own conclusions.
In the 2026 race for governor, TFA received completed surveys from six candidates: two Republicans, Monty Fritts and John Rose; three independent candidates; and one Democratic candidate. Marsha Blackburn was sent the same survey but did not return it. A candidate’s decision to answer, or not answer, is itself information that voters may consider. TFA reports that information but leaves the ultimate evaluation to each voter.
Relevant links:
TFA’s post concerning the survey responses from candidates for governor
TFA’s post concerning the survey responses from legislative candidates
In selected election years, TFA also offers structured video interviews to candidates for certain offices. For 2026, TFA invited the candidates for the Republican nomination for governor to participate in individual interviews concerning Second Amendment issues. These interviews are not free-form or “gotcha” interviews. Every invited candidate receives the substantive questions in advance. During the interview, TFA asks the questions from that written list. Except for introductory remarks, TFA does not add new substantive questions or demand unanticipated answers. The purpose is to give each candidate the same opportunity to explain his or her positions directly to Tennessee voters and to do so without limit or coaching with followup questions.
Monty Fritts and John Rose immediately agreed to participate, and TFA published both interviews on its website. Marsha Blackburn did not participate. Again, TFA reports the facts and presents the interviews so that voters can listen to the candidates’ own words and make their own decisions.
Publishing a candidate’s survey responses is not an endorsement. Interviewing a candidate is not an endorsement. Reporting that another candidate declined to participate is not an endorsement. TFA has invested substantial time and resources to help voters determine where candidates stand on the Second Amendment. TFA’s role is to provide the information; the voter’s role is to evaluate it.
The Tennessee Firearms Association Legislative Action Committee, commonly known as TFALAC, is separate from TFA. TFALAC is a Tennessee-registered political action committee. Unlike TFA, TFALAC may make campaign contributions, independent expenditures, and endorsements, subject to applicable campaign-finance laws and reporting requirements. Further, TFALAC is not an unknown entity that suddenly surfaced during the campaign. It has been in existence since 1996 and thus has a history of three decades of engagement.
TFALAC has historically invited candidates, elected officials, and other individuals with records of involvement in Second Amendment matters to participate in its annual events. Numerous state and federal officials representing Tennessee have participated over the years. In 2025, both John Rose and Monty Fritts attended and spoke at TFALAC’s Annual Event. Marsha Blackburn does not have a similar history of attending TFALAC events.
TFALAC’s public campaign-finance disclosure reports reflect that it made 2026 campaign contributions to both Monty Fritts and John Rose. This was not because they came to that event. TFALAC took into consideration voting histories, years of engagement, survey responses and interview content. TFALAC contributed to both because, after consulting with a significant number of Second Amendment supporters who attend its events and support its activities, it was clear that Tennessee’s active Second Amendment grassroots were substantially divided between Fritts and Rose. Both candidates had significant support among those activists.
Those contributions were decisions made by TFALAC, the political action committee. They were not endorsements by TFA, the §501(c)(4) advocacy organization.
TFA members and Tennessee voters do not have to rely solely on campaign advertisements, mail pieces, slogans, or third-party candidate ratings. They can review the actual questions TFA asked, the candidates’ written answers, the candidates’ numerical survey results, the names of candidates who did not respond, the complete video interviews, and the publicly filed campaign-finance disclosure reports.
TFA encourages every voter who values the right to keep and bear arms to review that information before voting. Do not assume that a party label, campaign advertisement, outside endorsement, or subjective letter grade tells you what a candidate will actually do once elected. Read the answers, watch the interviews, examine the record, and then make your own informed decision.
Election Day is Thursday, August 6, 2026. Your rights will be affected by the people elected this week. Take the time to know where the candidates stand—and vote like your rights depend on it – because they do.
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