Daily Dose for July 27, 2006

Daily Dose

Troopers Ask Bredesen for Campaign Money Refund -- Two former top officers with the Tennessee Highway Patrol who had been promoted after giving thousands to Gov. Phil Bredesen's campaign have asked the governor to refund their contributions. One trooper had given over $15,000 in political contributions from family members. Another, over $10,000 between the 2002 election and the Governor's reelection bid. Jim Bryson, Bredesen's GOP challenger, announced at an event in Montgomery County today that his campaign would not accept trooper contributions.

Wilder Bank Deal Under Investigation -- Officials from a bank that Lt. Gov. John Wilder co-owns testified Tuesday before a federal grand jury in Chattanooga in the case involving whether or not Wilder's bank inappropriately granted a loan to defendants seeking to purchase property from State Sen. Jerry Cooper. In 1999, Cooper sold a lumber mill in Smartt, Tenn., to the Anthony Auyer, who gathered the loan from Wilder's bank and said they planned to produce crossties for the railroad industry and create 50 new jobs in Warren County. More than a year earlier, appraiser James Passons had appraised the land based on the presence of a railroad spur that, in fact, did not exist, prosecutors said last year when they charged the Auyers and Passons with an assortment of bank fraud, mail fraud, wire fraud, money-laundering and conspiracy offenses. More from the Chattanooga Times Free Press and Tennessean.

Hooker Suing -- Colorful politico John Jay Hooker is suing Governor Phil Bredesen and all of Tennessee's incumbent judges. Hooker contends the state constitution requires Supreme Court judges to face contested elections, not a system wherein judges are appointed by the governor and voters simply vote yes or no on whether a judge should receive a new term. Hooker also said Gov. Bredesen is using the present system "to stack the Supreme Court" and assure that his current legal counsel, Bob Cooper, becomes state attorney general. Hooker, however - has been barred for filing lawsuits in Davidson County, where he owes a fine for a filing frivilous lawsuits.

Cacophony of Criticism Over Corker Commercials -- Harold Ford, Jr. joined Bob Corker's GOP primary opposition Ed Bryant and Van Hilleary in criticizing Bob Corker's latest TV ads saying Bob Corker is lying about congressional pay increases. Political commentators in today's Tennessean say that the statement signals Ford thinks Corker is going to win the primary. Ed Bryant's new TV ad accuses Corker of lying about congressional pay raises as well, using a quote from Knoxville News-Sentinel editor Jack McElroy. More from the Commercial Appeal.

Clement to Return PAC Cash -- Nashville Mayoral candidate Bob Clement will return $40K he received in PAC contributions after coverage on a blog - and the Nashville City Paper revealed that the PACs had been set up by his law partners to direct money to his campaign. Both Clement and Woods denied on Wednesday they had any intention of using the PACs to circumvent state campaign contribution limits. In a written statement issued Wednesday, Clement maintained the PACs were formed for the purpose of influencing education policy. But last week, a major contributor to one of the PACs — retiree Neil Parrish — said that he donated $5,000 to the “Education Equals Success PAC” in order to work around the limit donors face when giving funds straight to individual candidates.

Ashe Political Papers Join Archives at Baker Center -- Former Knoxville Mayor and current Ambasador to Poland Victor Ashe has donated his political papers to the Baker Center at the University of Tennessee. The Baker center named after Tennessee's Senator Howard Baker now contains the papers of Baker and former Sen. Fred Thompson, among other notable Tennessee politicans. Ashe was elected to the Tennessee House of Representatives in 1968 and elected to the Tennessee State Senate in 1975. In 1987, he was elected mayor of Knoxville. His 16-year tenure is the longest in Knoxville's history.

Pulse Covers the Chicken -- The Chattanooga Pulse features a picture of the infamous Ed Bryant chicken on the cover of its election guide. Their coverage is great, including this column by Joe Lance. The Pulse's alt-weekly sister the Knoxville-based MetroPulse has visions of a November Senate showdown between Harold Ford, Jr. and Bob Corker. Frank Cagle handicapts some Knoxville races you might be interested in as well - including the GOP primary facing blogging legislator Stacey Campfield.

Posted by Adam Groves | Email This |