With early voting currently underway for the Aug. 1 election, campaign financial disclosures for the second quarter are due for the candidates.
Federal disclosures show incumbent U.S. Rep. Andy Ogles and his Republican primary challenger Metro Councilmember Courtney Johnston have spent nearly the same amount this quarter as voters take to the polls. Johnston is out-raising Ogles by almost triple in contributions — $721,000 to $263,000. Tennessee Republicans including Bill Haslam, Bob Corker and Bill Frist have thrown their financial support behind Johnston.
Local leaders from Nashville and Williamson County are also putting their dollars toward Johnston’s campaign. These supporters include Metro Councilmember Mike Cortese, Nashville finance director Kevin Crumbo, Franklin Mayor Ken Moore and Williamson County Mayor Rogers Anderson. The campaign has also received donations from at least 18 CEOs like Matthew Scoggins Jr. of Farm Bureau, Hal Lawton of Tractor Supply, Phil Mazzuca of Williamson Health, Chip Crunk of RJ Young, Tim Downey of Southern Land Company, Richard Isaacson of ServPro, Mark Fioravanti of Ryman Hospitality Properties and Colin Reed of Ryman Hospitality. She received no political action committee donations, while Ogles brought in $43,000 from PACs.
In the U.S. Senate race, Gloria Johnson is raising far more than her Democratic primary opponents. Johnson has received $1.2 million in contributions for this period, for a total of nearly $4.9 million in the election to date. Marquita Bradshaw, another Democrat in the race, has not filed an updated disclosure as of late Tuesday afternoon — after the Monday filing deadline. Even though Bradshaw has not submitted her disclosure, Johnson had already been out-earning her in the first quarter.
If Johnson wins the nomination, she will ultimately face incumbent Sen. Marsha Blackburn, who received $787,800 in contributions this period and $6.9 million to date. Blackburn disclosed a total of nearly $1.9 million in receipts, which includes transfers from authorized committees in addition to contributions. She has $9.2 million on hand at this point, while Johnson has $2 million.
Among the most contested races in the state primary elections is House District 60, a seat being vacated by Democrat Darren Jernigan, who is now working in Mayor Freddie O’Connell’s administration. The wealth is spread out among both the Republican and Democratic campaigns, with local donors showing up for their favored candidate.
Democrat Shaundelle Brooks is outearning her opponents on either side of the aisle, bringing in $52,865 in contributions this quarter. She’s landed funds from state Reps. Aftyn Behn, Justin Jones, Harold Love Jr. and Gloria Johnson, as well as donations from Metro Councilmembers Emily Benedict, Zulfat Suara and Kyonzté Toombs. Her Democratic challenger, Tyler Brasher, brought in $41,430. Brooks also outspent Brasher $47,626 to $29,969 respectively. Brasher also received funding from Metro Councilmembers Burkley Allen, Erin Evans, Quin Evans Segall and Rollin Horton. State Reps. Karen Camper and Yusuf Hakeem donated to both campaigns. Camper gave more to Brooks, while Hakeem gave more to Brasher. A third Democrat, John Parrish, has not yet filed a second-quarter disclosure and announced on Sunday he would be pulling out of the race for personal reasons. He added in a statement on his campaign’s Facebook page that he would endorse Brooks.
On the Republican side of the House District 60 primaries, the financial competition isn’t as stiff. Chad Bobo earned more than $34,000 in contributions, while Christopher Huff brought in around $3,800. Huff also spent nearly all of that this quarter and ended with just $806 in the bank. Bobo has around $16,000 going into the next quarter.
The person with the largest change in fund balance this quarter is District 56 Rep. Bob Freeman, who faces challenger Nick Forster-Benson in the Democratic primary. Freeman started the quarter with the second-largest balance on hand already with $328,145.92, and he ended the quarter with $386,777.28 in the bank. He’s also lapping his opponent by tens of thousands in contributions, earning more than $90,000 this quarter, while Forster-Benson earned just over $1,000. (Disclosure: Freeman’s father Bill Freeman owns FW Publishing, the Scene’s parent company.)
At the end of the quarter, the person with the most money on hand is Democratic District 52 Rep. Justin Jones, who came in with a starting balance of more than $958,000 to begin with, earned just over $8,000, spent around $34,000 and ended with more than $932,000. The Nashville Banner reports that Jones received $3,700 between April 17 and May 1 when his campaign did not have a treasurer, and state officials told him he could not accept donations. Bureau of Ethics and Campaign Finance general counsel Lauren Topping told the Banner that he will be required to return those funds.
Jones doesn’t face a primary challenger. His likely Republican foe in the general, Laura Nelson (she too is unopposed in her party’s primary), has also remained steady in her funding — though it’s hundreds of thousands below Jones, with an ending balance this month of $8,139.47.
Property assessor Vivian Wilhoite and 4th Circuit Court candidate Stephanie Williams are both unopposed in the Davidson County general election, but the race for the Metro Nashville Public Schools board’s District 1 seat is still hot. Republican Demytris Savage-Short’s disclosure for the quarter shows she brought in $2,537, spent around $2,000 and still ended with nearly $2,500 on hand. Democrat Robert Taylor’s disclosure shows he received $8,685 this quarter but spent more than $13,000, leaving him with just under $2,000 in the bank during this early-voting period.
With early voting now open, see our coverage of state and federal primary matchups, the Nashville Banner’s extensive ballot guide and more
