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Today’s newsletter is 890 words — a 3.5-minute read.

Tennessee is contributing to a national surge in executions, and the Republican candidate for governor wants the state to go further in the coming years.

The big picture: Forty-seven people were executed in the United States last year, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.

• Three of them were in Tennessee.

The latest: Christa Pike, the only woman on Tennessee's death row, is set to be put to death this week. It would mark the state's second completed execution in 2026.

• Another execution is set to take place in December.

What she's saying: U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn, the frontrunner to become the next governor, has said she would like to see Tennessee move more quickly.

• "As governor, I would work to bring back the electric chair, and as soon as a criminal sentenced to death has exhausted all of his/her appeals, I believe in flipping the switch," Blackburn said in a statement to the Tennessee Lookout.
• "That's the only way to closure for victims' families."

Zoom in: Inmates in Tennessee tend to spend longer on death row compared to other states.

• The three Tennessee inmates executed last year averaged more than 35 years on death row, compared with the 27-year national average.
• Today, 40% of Tennessee's death-row prisoners have been under a death sentence for at least 30 years, according to an Axios analysis of state prison data.

Between the lines: Blackburn's interest in speeding up that timeline comes as the Trump administration has overtly cheered on the death penalty.

• "The increased number of executions last year reflected the enthusiasm and the urging of this administration to increase use of the death penalty, and the acquiescence of some state officials to that political pressure," DPI executive director Robin Maher tells Axios.

Yes, but: The Nashville Banner noted that Blackburn would need buy-in from state lawmakers to make material changes to the execution process, and those would likely spur legal challenges.

Reality check: Even with the national uptick, DPI's data doesn't point to a massive wave of executions. Fewer than 25 people were sentenced to death in 2025 per DPI's tracker, compared to numbers well into the 100s in the 2000s.

• "The majority of capital juries are imposing life sentences, not death sentences," Maher says, adding she's doubtful the country will ever return to the peak numbers.

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The Atlanta Braves, the juggernaut of Southeastern baseball, appear to be opposed to Nashville's potential bid for a Major League Baseball team.

Why it matters: Opposition from the Braves could boost the chances of other MLB hopefuls like Raleigh.

What they're saying: Braves President and CEO Derek Schiller was recently asked by the Sports Business Journal if he liked the idea of a Nashville expansion team.

• "No," he said. "I love Nashville. Just as a reminder, Tennessee is part of our territory, right? ... We're going to be protective of the territory ... we have."

Between the lines: Tennessee is part of the Braves' six-state local media market, giving the team control over selling and distributing their local broadcasts here. Currently the Braves have exclusive television rights in Nashville.

• That means the Braves have a financial interest in keeping Nashville within their territory rather than ceding it to a home team.

Catch up quick: It's been a tough month for hopeful Nashville baseball fans.

• Earlier in September, ESPN reporter Jeff Passan said Nashville's race for an MLB team lags behind other top contenders.
• Nashville's local expansion group, which calls itself the Nashville Stars, lacks a lead owner, a public-private partnership to pay for a stadium and a development site, Passan says.

Read more from our colleagues at Axios Raleigh

Since we're in Atlanta this week for an Axios Local retreat, we've got Georgia on our minds.

• Our weekly playlist features a series of songs from and about the Peach State.
• "Midnight Train to Georgia," "The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia" and "Chattahoochee" all made the cut.

Follow our playlist on Spotify

The Nashville Public Library on Friday gave out about 900 of its limited-edition library cards celebrating Dolly Parton and the Imagination Library.

• The stash, which was re-released in honor of "Dolly Day," ran out in a matter of hours. One librarian told us pretty much every visitor he talked to on Friday wanted to swap out their old card for a Dolly-fied version.

💕 We love all of our readers, but the quiz winners are extra special: Mike B., Doug H., Joyce C., Jared M., Matthew W., Ann Marie O., Kimberly R., Jacob K., Justin W., Robbie J., Martin P., Todd Z., Melissa H., Paul S., Juan Jose R., Debbie D., Clayton F. and Stephen S.

Our picks:

Nate's song of the day is "God Loves a Terrier" from the movie "Best in Show."

😍 Adam oiled a wooden cutting board and it looks so much prettier than his plastic one.

This newsletter was edited by Jen Burkett.