While many people are firmly focused on the tight presidential contest between Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris and former president Donald Trump, Willie Nelson and Margo Price got together to remind fans that there are other races people should keep their eyes on as well.
Sitting on Nelson’s legendary tour bus, the country singers and Farm Aid board members highlighted a pair of congressional races they said are equally important in an Instagram video. “I know we’re all talking about the presidential race, and that’s important, but Margo and I want to talk about our Texas and Tennessee voters,” said Nelson, 91.
“There are 33 U.S. Senate seats up for grabs this November. We have a chance to vote out Marsha Blackburn,” added Nashville native Price in the short clip she said was filmed during a break from a “very important” game of Nelson’s second-favorite past time: dominoes.
In 2018, Taylor Swift made her first-ever political endorsement when she spoke out against Republican Blackburn, whom the singer described as “Trump in a wig” in her 2020 Miss Americana documentary. Swift’s pick, Democrat Phil Bredesen, ended up losing that 2018 midterm election to Blackburn, whose voting record Swift said at the time “appalls and terrifies me.”
Price told voters that they have an opportunity to vote in “Tennessee Three” member Gloria Johnson, who in 2023 became a hero to Volunteer State Democrats when she and her colleagues reclaimed their legislative seats after being expelled for a gun control protest on the State House floor following a mass shooting at the Covenant school in Nashville that took the lives of three children and three adults.
Texas-native Nelson promoted Colin Allred over Republican Ted Cruz, who has been a junior senator from the Lone Star State since 2013 and who was repeatedly insulted by Trump during his unsuccessful 2016 White House bid. “I know firsthand that Colin will represent all Texans, no matter their race, who they worship or who they love,” said Nelson, reading from a sheet of notes.
“And I know Gloria will do something about the gun problem this country faces,” Price added. “Our children don’t have to live like this.”
Nelson made sure to note that the voter registration deadline for both Texas and Tennessee is Oct. 7, while Price encouraged viewers to vote early to make sure they don’t miss a chance to have their voices heard, pointing out that her home state has the lowest voter turnout in the nation.
“So make a voting plan and bring three friends to the polls and vote for Colin Allred,” Nelson said of the former Tennessee Titans linebacker and House member who is running against climate change denier Cruz, whose platform includes a vow to shut down the IRS and who called the abolition of the abortion protections in Roe v. Wade a “massive victory” for life.
“So what I tell my friends is, ‘Friends don’t sleep with people that don’t vote,’” Price added with a smile. “So we can do better.”
Watch the video below.
