Taylor Swift Gets Political, Supports Dems in Tennessee Midterm Elections

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Taylor Swift just made her current political views explicitly clear for what may be the first time ever in her career — and it might piss off a lot of conservatives in Tennessee. 

Tay posted a lengthy statement on Instagram Sunday that weighed in on the midterm elections taking place across the country next month. She addressed the congressional race in her home state of Tennessee — where she moved when she was 14 and where she’ll be voting herself — for which she declared she’d be voting for two Democrats running for U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives. 

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I’m writing this post about the upcoming midterm elections on November 6th, in which I’ll be voting in the state of Tennessee. In the past I’ve been reluctant to publicly voice my political opinions, but due to several events in my life and in the world in the past two years, I feel very differently about that now. I always have and always will cast my vote based on which candidate will protect and fight for the human rights I believe we all deserve in this country. I believe in the fight for LGBTQ rights, and that any form of discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender is WRONG. I believe that the systemic racism we still see in this country towards people of color is terrifying, sickening and prevalent. I cannot vote for someone who will not be willing to fight for dignity for ALL Americans, no matter their skin color, gender or who they love. Running for Senate in the state of Tennessee is a woman named Marsha Blackburn. As much as I have in the past and would like to continue voting for women in office, I cannot support Marsha Blackburn. Her voting record in Congress appalls and terrifies me. She voted against equal pay for women. She voted against the Reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act, which attempts to protect women from domestic violence, stalking, and date rape. She believes businesses have a right to refuse service to gay couples. She also believes they should not have the right to marry. These are not MY Tennessee values. I will be voting for Phil Bredesen for Senate and Jim Cooper for House of Representatives. Please, please educate yourself on the candidates running in your state and vote based on who most closely represents your values. For a lot of us, we may never find a candidate or party with whom we agree 100% on every issue, but we have to vote anyway. So many intelligent, thoughtful, self-possessed people have turned 18 in the past two years and now have the right and privilege to make their vote count. But first you need to register, which is quick and easy to do. October 9th is the LAST DAY to register to vote in the state of TN. Go to vote.org and you can find all the info. Happy Voting! 🗳😃🌈

A post shared by Taylor Swift (@taylorswift) on Oct 7, 2018 at 4:33pm PDT

In her post, Taylor says she’s been reluctant to voice her politics publicly in the past — but felt compelled to do so now due to recent events in her life and around the world. She says she has always cast votes for people who protect human rights, support the LGBT community, fight against discrimination of any sort as well as the systematic racism at play in the country. 

As such, she says she cannot in her right conscience vote for U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn, a Republican who’s running for a Senate seat against former TN Gov. Phil Bredesen — a Democrat. Blackburn’s been seen at Trump rallies in support of the President.

Taylor says Blackburn has taken positions that are antithetical to everything she personally stands for, adding … “These are not MY Tennessee values.” She goes on to say she’ll be voting for Jim Cooper for the House of Representatives — another Democrat. 

It’s an interesting stance considering Taylor’s country music background — and it’ll be even more interesting to see if she has any influence on turnout come Nov. 6.