NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — While the Presidential race hasn’t been called yet, the race for Tennessee’s next U.S. Senator was called within minutes of the polls closing.
Bill Hagerty is ascending to the title Senator-elect, having gotten there closely aligning himself with President Trump, something he made very clear on election night.
"If Joe Biden is elected president, I’m very concerned about the future of our nation because they’ve made it clear they want to push us in the direction of socialism," Hagerty said Tuesday night.
But if Hagerty heads to Washington without President Trump in the White House, NewsChannel 5 Political Analyst Pat Nolan says Hagerty can still be part of a Trump legacy.
"Now he’ll still be able to work within the Republican majority to get things done with Mitch McConnell and I suspect Lamar Alexander, in particular, can give him some help with that because Lamar had a very close relationship with McConnell," Nolan said.
But could Republicans in Washington change how they operate if President Trump doesn’t win re-election? Nolan says Hagerty’s past supporting more moderate republicans may help him there too.
"Will he move back toward the middle as Washington changes? He doesn’t have to now because he will probably be in a Republican Senate but he may have the ability to do that, at least he’s been there before if things begin to change in Washington and begin to change inside the Republican Party," Nolan said.
