One Night, One Stage, One Week Before the Vote: MTSU Hosts the Governor’s Race Forum
About a week before Tennessee voters finish deciding who runs the state, the candidates for governor are scheduled to share a stage in Murfreesboro. The Tennessee Press Association will host a nonpartisan gubernatorial forum at Middle Tennessee State University on Tuesday, October 27, at 7 p.m. Central, with election day set for November 3.
Who is on the invitation list
The association invited all four candidates: Republican nominee and U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn, Democratic nominee and Memphis City Councilmember Jerri Green, and independents David Hatley and Lauren Pinkston. As of the announcement on October 8, Green, Hatley and Pinkston had confirmed they would attend. Reports at that point did not say whether Blackburn had accepted, so her participation remained an open question.
The association describes the event as the only nonpartisan forum scheduled this election season that is not tied to a candidate's campaign. Its president, Dave Gould, spoke about the event in the announcement.
How to watch
This is not a come-and-sit-in-the-audience evening. The forum will not be open to the public. Instead, it will be streamed live, which is where MTSU comes in: a student-led video production team from the Scott Borchetta College of Media and Entertainment will produce the broadcast, and Tennessee Press Association member newspapers across the state will carry the stream.
That arrangement gives Murfreesboro a quiet distinction. For one night, the campus where future broadcasters, audio engineers and producers train will be the place a statewide audience watches a governor's race. It is the kind of real-world assignment students rarely see before graduation, and the college has a record of connecting students with working industry; one recent example is the alumni recognition we covered in our story on new Wall of Fame inductees.
Why a forum like this matters
Forums run by campaigns tend to be built around friendly questions and friendly rooms. A forum organized by newspapers is designed to do the opposite: put several candidates in front of the same questions, at the same time, under the same rules. For voters who have not yet decided, or who want to compare answers rather than slogans, that side-by-side format is the point.
Rutherford County residents who plan to watch will want to note the time. The stream begins at 7 p.m. Central, which is 8 p.m. Eastern for relatives elsewhere in the state. Check the stream page of your preferred local newspaper site that evening, and confirm your own voting plans well before November 3.
Details can change, including the final list of participating candidates, so look for updates from the association as the date approaches. The information here reflects what had been announced as of October 9, 2026.
Image: illustrative, AI-generated – not the actual location.
