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Thursday, July 16, 2009

Politics / Woods With First Official Act as Candidate for Governor, Roy Herron Tries to Trick Reporters

Posted by Jeff Woods on Thu, Jul 16, 2009 at 10:58 AM

click to enlarge roy.jpg
We have learned two things about Roy Herron from the way he handled this week's campaign financial disclosure, his first official act as a candidate for governor: (1) He's a sneaky little devil who doesn't mind misleading the public and (2) He's got a rat in Mike McWherter's campaign. Regarding the latter point, how else would Herron know for a fact that McWherter was about to announce raising $650,000 for his campaign? Herron's spy nailed it and tipped Herron, leading the senator to announce not $356,000, which is what he actually raised, or $608,000 which is what he raised counting the cash transferred from his Senate campaign, but "more than $650,000." To make it to that magic number, Herron had to count roughly $40,000 from his Senate account that he'd already spent on campaign expenses. According to the Registry of Election Finance, Herron contends he spent that $40,000 not on gubernatorial campaign costs (that would be illegal) but on generic consulting fees that could have been attributed to a Senate campaign if he was running for that office again, which he isn't. Whatever. "It's a semantics thing," the Registry's Drew Rawlins tells Pith. Indeed it is. A little too obviously, Herron was trying to snooker the media into reporting that he'd matched McWherter's fundraising. It worked for a little while too. To help in this deception, his flack, some twerp named Michael Lamb, refused to call back reporters on the day of Herron's press release, the better to avoid answering pesky questions. (At least, Lamb didn't call back Pith. When he finally did return our call, he said he'd been "out of town" the day before. Ha!) Kudos to A.C. Kleinheider for getting to the bottom of this. Sean Braisted calls it "creative accounting that would make an Enron executive blush" and predicts reporters will give closer scrutiny to what Herron says in the future. That's a polite way of saying that we now see Herron as a snake and can't wait to slap him around. Pith is proud to go first.

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Good stuff, jeff, and, and, and, you even gave props to Kleinheider!
There is hope for world peace yet!
/sheds single tear

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Posted by Steve Steffens (LeftWingCracker) on July 16, 2009 at 11:58 AM

Here's a thought:
Mike McWherter has known Roy Herron for years. Did he dupe Herron into lying? Maybe McWherter had a mutual friend tell Herron that he was going to report $650,000, knowing that Herron would then fudge on his report.
I mean, judging by the blog comments, a lot of people know that Herron isn't exactly known for his honesty. What are the odds that McWherter knows Herron is a liar. Probably pretty high.
Okay, probably not, but it's a thought.

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Posted by The OG Ben on July 16, 2009 at 12:01 PM

I like it, OG. McWherter tricked Herron into stepping in it, knowing full well that Herron would jump at the chance to lie to the public and that reporters would uncover Herron's deception. That McWherter, he's a crafty devil no doubt.

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Posted by Woods on July 16, 2009 at 12:05 PM

Everyone in West Tennessee has known for years what the rest of the state is now learning: "Can't Trust Roy." That'll be a nice little chant at a future Democratic rally.

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Posted by Jeremy on July 16, 2009 at 12:20 PM

You give kudos to Kleinheider. Jeff, I give them to you, at least for today.
I knew something was up when, at the Trial Lawyers convention in Memphis, Senator Herron was the only legislator/candidate of either party in attendance.
The "wassup" part of this is that the General Assembly had not concluded its business for the year. In the military, they call it AWOL.

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Posted by Joe Kirkpatrick on July 16, 2009 at 12:51 PM

come on, come on . . . Roy the Toy Boy's Senate colleagues were sooooooo pissed that he was skipping out on session to raise money . . .
Yeah, he was over at the Bone law office making calls and skippin' committee meetings and legislative bid'ness . . .
That's ol' Roy for ya. It's all 'bout him.

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Posted by Heyron's Tightie Whities on July 16, 2009 at 12:59 PM

is this the same Roy that goes out of his way to tell people he has only missed ONE day of session his entire career. i guess committee meetings dont count. or maybe as long as you pop your head in for a few minutes before making calls at bones office, then you can say you were there.

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Posted by another boy toy on July 16, 2009 at 1:39 PM

Woods,
I don't suppose you'd be interested in reporting any of Herron's political positions on issues?
If all you guys are going to do is count the money why not save the ink, because this is already over, and Haslam won.

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Posted by Tony Gottlieb on July 16, 2009 at 3:32 PM

Herron's campaign finance filings are like an onion. And the deeper you peel into them, the more they reek. Take his Senate campaign account report. (You know, the one where he claims there were $40,000 in "generic" consulting fees on behalf of his gubernatorial campaign. Generic, my ass.)
Below is the entire list of his Senate expenditures (minus the giant transfer to his gubernatorial account), and they just raise more questions. For example, the Registry of Election Finance's online records show that there's not any detail at all for the single largest expenditure, over $8,700. It's just denoted with a comma (",") and described simply as "services." Well, what kind of services?
The second largest expense, over $5,200, is to the IRS. Is this for his gubernatorial campaign? How can Herron pay the IRS for his gubernatorial campaign out of his Senate account. I've managed over a dozen legislative campaigns, and this is the squirreliest reporting I've ever seen.
,
SERVICES
06/05/2009
$8,715.18
AMAZON
1200 12TH AVENUE SOUTH, SUITE 1200
SEATTLE, WA 98144
OFFICE EQUIPMENT, SUPPLIES & PUBLICATIONS
04/24/2009
$471.28
AT&T
P.O.BOX 9001309
LOUISVILLE, KY 40290
TELEPHONE
03/13/2009
$147.73
CALDWELL'S OFFICE OUTFITTERS
929 HIGHWAY 45 WEST
UNION CITY, TN 38261
OFFICE EQUIPMENT
06/03/2009 $126.59
CALYPSO CAFE
2424 ELLISTON PLACE
NASHVILLE, TN 37203
FOOD FOR SUPPORTERS
04/26/2009
$223.45
CELL PLUS
8722 HWY 22
DRESDEN, TN 38225
TELEPHONE
04/02/2009
$305.08
CHAMBERS, KATHY
104 CEDAR POINTE PKWY
ANTIOCH, TN 37013
CONTRACT LABOR
06/03/2009
$500.00
COMPUTERS R US
P.O. BOX 693
DRESDEN, TN 38225
COMPUTER/INTERNET
05/27/2009
$147.79
DELTA
P.O. BOX 20706
ATLANTA, GA 30320
TRAVEL 04/10/2009
$908.90
DUNAVANT, JAKE
250 LOCKE ROAD
PULASKI, TN 37478
WAGES & MILEAGE
05/31/2000
$1,543.52
EDDIE'S SERVICE STATION
120 EAST MAIN
DRESDEN, TN 38225
AUTO SERVICE & GAS
06/03/2009
$105.90
FRONTIER
60 CHURCH STREET
GLOVERSVILLE, NY 12078
TELEPHONE
06/03/2009
$572.96
GIERLING, RITA
1115 WOODLAWN AVENUE
UNION CITY, TN 38261
WAGES
06/08/2009
$1,428.95
HP SHOPPING
3000 HANOVER STREET
PALO ALTO, CA 94304
OFFICE EQUIPMENT
05/18/2009
$255.60
HUANG'S GOLDEN COAST
1722 WEST END AVENUE
NASHVILLE, TN 37203
FOOD FOR SUPPORTERS
06/10/2009
$131.21
I MART
21465 HWY 22 N
WILDERSVILLE, TN 38388
GAS
05/18/2009
$196.09
INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE
P. O. BOX 660264
DALLAS, TX 75266
TAXES
03/29/2009
$5,248.04
JAMES, ROBERT
P.O. BOX 1851
DICKSON, TN 37056
MILEAGE
05/08/2009
$150.00
NEWMAN, DAVE
5500 PENINSULA PARK LANDING
HERMITAGE, TN 37076
COMPUTER/INTERNET
05/05/2009
$343.05
PARK CAFE
4403 MURPHY ROAD
NASHVILLE, TN 37209
FOOD FOR SUPPORTERS
02/09/2009
$605.26
POSTMASTER
122 WEST MAPLE
DRESDEN, TN 38225
POSTAGE
06/08/2009
$1,763.87
ROTIER'S
2413 ELLISTON PLACE
NASHVILLE, TN 37203
FOOD FOR SUPPORTERS
04/29/2009
$177.24
SOUTHWEST
ONE TERMINAL DRIVE
NASHVILLE, TN 37214
TRAVEL
03/13/2009
$148.10
STUTTS, MARTHA
337 WHISPERING HILLS ROAD
MARTIN, TN 38237
WAGES & MILEAGE
06/05/2009
$5,786.64
SUBWAY
8540 HWY. 22
DRESDEN, TN 38225
FOOD FOR SUPPORTERS
05/19/2009
$106.16
TENNESSEE STATE MUSEUM
505 DEADERICK STREET
NASHVILLE, TN 37243
CONTRIBUTION
04/17/2009
$500.00
THE BONNER GROUP
729 15TH STREET NW #3
WASHINGTON, DC 20005
FOOD FOR SUPPORTERS
01/27/2009
$300.00
THOMAS LINDSEY GROUP
2033 RICHARD JONES ROAD
NASHVILLE, TN 37215
SERVICES
06/01/2009
$5,072.10
U.S. AIRWAYS
4000 EAST SKY HARBOR BOULEVARD
PHOENIX, AZ 85034
TRAVEL
05/27/2009
$264.70
VERIZON WIRELESS
P. O. BOX 105378
ATLANTA, GA 30348
TELEPHONE
06/01/2009
$794.38
WAL-MART
134 COURTRIGHT ROAD
MARTIN, TN 38237
OFFICE EQUIPMENT & SUPPLIES
06/05/2009
$208.34

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Posted by Johnsonville Dan on July 16, 2009 at 4:52 PM

This is total crap.
Kathy Chambers, Jake Dunavant, and Robert James are Herron's GUBERNATORIAL campaign staffers.
The Thomas Lindsey Group is Kathy Thomas, the fundraiser for Herron's GUBERNATORIAL run.
Herron is obviously paying expenses for his GUBERNATORIAL run out of his Senate campaign account.
Didn't Herron and the Senate Democratic Caucus attack Rosalind Kurita for doing something similar with her PAC last year?

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Posted by Kharma, bitch on July 16, 2009 at 7:13 PM
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