Despite polls in the final weeks of the campaign showing a tightening race, Blackburn cruised to victory. Rose had 32.7% of the primary vote and state Rep. Monty Fritts of Kingston received 23.4% as the race was called. He conceded the election to Blackburn around 8:30 p.m. Thursday night and said he would be supporting her in the general election. The Blackburn juggernautBlackburn’s 30 years in elected office and longtime Republican Party activism built a bulwark too formidable for Rose or Fritts to overcome. Blackburn will face Democrat Jerri Green, a Memphis city councilmember, in the general election, making for the state’s first all-woman partisan gubernatorial field.