Two polls, two different pictures of the Tennessee governor's race

Editor's Note: The Hatley for Governor campaign returned a comment after this story's deadline. The story has been updated to include their statement. NASHVILLE — Two polls released Tuesday are showing vastly different results in who Tennesseans support for their next governor. The first, conducted by Republican pollster Spry Strategies, shows U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., with an 11.5% lead over her Democratic opponent, Jerri Green. Meanwhile, a poll conducted by Political Intelligence shows a different result: Green behind Blackburn by only 2%. The two polls were conducted over similar time frames, yet differed by 9.5%. The disparate polling trend has continued from the Republican gubernatorial primary, when Blackburn and her opponent, U.S. Rep. John Rose, R-Tenn., published competing internal polls in the weeks ahead of election day. Those polls differed by 16%, with one showing Blackburn's leading by 15%, while the other had a 31% differential. Blackburn ended up winning the primary election by 10.5%. Political Intelligence is a relatively unknown pollster, with little online presence except for a poll it conducted on behalf of Brandon Herrera, a Republican congressional candidate in Texas. Green's campaign provided Six Rivers Media with a copy of the poll, which contained no identifying details. More is known about Spry Strategies, whose clients include mostly Republican organizations and candidates, such as Florida Gov. Ron Desantis, Tennessee House Speaker Cameron Sexton and the Tennessee Senate Republican Caucus. Alex Hensley, Green's campaign manager, criticized the Spry poll for skewing Republican. "Marsha's team tried this exact same trick in the primary," Hensley said. "It's just a manufactured attempt to spin momentum for a candidate who's currently dodging debates and ducking questions from reporters and voters." Six Rivers Media did not receive a response from Blackburn's campaign. Independent candidate David Hatley also celebrated the PI poll in a Facebook post, which had him capturing 19% of the vote. In the Spry poll, Hatley sat at 11.9%. The Hatley campaign also attacked the results of the Spry poll for weighing heavily toward Republicans. A spokesperson for Hatley's campaign pointed out Spry Strategies' financial ties to Blackburn's longtime political consultant, Ward Baker, though Six Rivers Media could not confirm this claim. "Here's what $7 million has bought Marsha Blackburn: an opponent who has nearly doubled his support since September," the campaign said in a statement. "Every attack ad, every stunt, every questionable poll has backfired, because Tennesseans know the difference between a politician who hides and a builder who shows up. She can skip the debates. She can dodge the press. She can't dodge the voters."