Targoz Market Research Conducts January 2026 Beacon Poll of Tennessee Voters

Targoz Market Research conducted the January 2026 Beacon Poll for the Beacon Center of Tennessee and TennSight, its voter insights platform. The statewide online survey of 1,200 registered Tennessee voters was fielded January 11-18, 2026.

The poll measured Tennessee voters' views on the direction of the state and country, approval of state and federal officials, household finances, education policy, and the early landscape for Tennessee's 2026 gubernatorial race.

Among the released findings, 64% of Tennessee voters said they were satisfied with the way things are going in the state, while 52% said they were dissatisfied with the direction of the country. Approval of the Tennessee State Legislature stood at 53%, and 53% approved of President Trump's job performance.

The survey also found broad support for the new federal school choice tax credit included in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, with 72% supporting the measure and 18% opposing it.

In the 2026 Republican gubernatorial primary, Sen. Marsha Blackburn led the field with 56%, followed by Rep. John Rose at 9% and State Rep. Monty Fritts at 7%. On household finances, 33% of voters said they were worse off than a year ago, while 25% said they were better off.

The full results and crosstabs are available from TennSight: https://tennsight.com/polls/january-2026/

Methodology: Statewide online survey of 1,200 registered Tennessee voters. Fieldwork was conducted January 11-18, 2026. Margin of error: +/-2.77 percentage points.