sentences:  Blackburn was appointed a member of the Kentucky Board of Agriculture in 1926 and served until 1928.Blackburn was elected as a Republican to the Seventy-first Congress (March 4, 1929 – March 3, 1931).He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1930 to the Seventy-second Congress and for election in 1932 to the Seventy-third Congress.