Money fuels campaigns — especially big ones. Fundraising reports ahead of Tennessee’s Aug. 6 primary are due Wednesday and give the public a peek at how candidates are raising and spending donor dollars.
On paper, Republican gubernatorial candidates U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn, favored by polling, and U.S. Rep. John Rose, the self-proclaimed underdog, look about even. Both disclosed big-league money for a statewide race that has already seen its share of TV advertising, an expensive but effective way to buy time in front of voters.
Blackburn declared $6 million on hand to Rose’s $4.7 million as of June 30. Rose, however, bet on himself, issuing $5 million in personal loans to bolster his long-shot campaign — possibly the four-term congressman’s final foray in politics. He raised a little more than $350,000 from donations. Blackburn brought in $2.7 million in April, May and June, a testament to the powerful fundraising network she has built over three decades in politics. Blackburn’s campaign spends in style too, reporting event-related expenses at Hall’s Chophouse, a top-dollar steakhouse in downtown Nashville, and ritzy East Tennessee resort Blackberry Farm. Both candidates cut big checks to advertisers and campaign consultants, the real winners during election season.
In Tennessee’s redrawn 6th Congressional District, which Rose will soon leave empty, Republicans Van Hilleary and Johnny Garrett have nearly $3 million between them. The bigger portion — some $1.7 million — belongs to state Rep. Garrett. Most of that money came directly from Garrett’s pocket as a $900,000 campaign loan. Hilleary tapped into his longtime presence in Tennessee politics to raise a formidable $1.2 million; he represented Tennessee’s old 4th District in the 1990s and ran unsuccessfully for U.S. Senate in 2006. He has been Rose’s chief of staff since 2018.
Filing shows 5th Congressional District rep struggling to raise money while debt, political consultants and Chipotle strain campaign account
Money troubles plagued Republican 5th Congressional District Rep. Andy Ogles even before his first congressional run. His sloppy bookkeeping has drawn fines, penalties and strongly worded letters from the Federal Election Commission throughout Ogles’ two terms in D.C. Lately he has struggled to bring in money despite his incumbent advantage. Ogles added $134,000 this quarter but spent more than he raised, leaving his campaign with $67,000 in cash. His books show another $70,000 in debt driven by legal fees to firm Holtzman Vogel, a “a political, regulatory and litigation powerhouse” in Washington, D.C. Ogles has faced an FBI probe, campaign finance scrutiny and an ethics investigation. A separate legal account created by Ogles was also financially insolvent according to its most recent disclosures. Ogles' district was redrawn as part of state Republicans' redistricting efforts earlier this year and no longer contains Nashville.
Ogles’ primary challenger, Republican Charlie Hatcher, has posted about $550,000 in fundraising since launching his campaign in October, plus another $134,000 he’s donated to his own campaign. Hatcher, who served as Tennessee Agriculture Commissioner under Gov. Bill Lee until October 2025, raised $150,000 between April 1 and June 30.
The D.C.-based Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee helped put Democrat Chaz Molder on a national platform, translating into substantial fundraising dollars in the Republican-heavy district. During May’s special state legislative session, new congressional maps drew Molder, the mayor of Columbia, out of Tennessee’s 5th District. Molder promptly announced he would continue his campaign for the seat and has rallied more than $1.8 million against what national pundits deem a weak incumbent in scandal-ridden Ogles.
Democrats Vincent Dixie and Darden Copeland square off again in the Democratic primary for a new-look 7th District, also redrawn in the nine months since they vied for the nomination in last fall’s special election. Neither has filed a required second-quarter financial disclosure, due on July 15, as of publication. Copeland, a political consultant at the Calvert Street Group in East Nashville, buoyed his campaign with a $100,000 loan last year while Dixie raised and spent about $175,000. Both lost to Nashville's state Rep. Aftyn Behn in the Democratic primary. Republican incumbent U.S. Rep. Matt Van Epps, who defeated Behn by 9 percentage points in the December special election, stacked up $240,000 this year with the help of gray-money Political Action Committees (PACs), which accounted for roughly one-third of his fundraising.
