Harwell injects $4 million into campaign

NASHVILLE — U.S. Rep. Diane Black, R-Tenn., led in fundraising among Tennessee’s seven Republican and Democratic gubernatorial candidates, but Republican state House Speaker Beth Harwell seized the No. 1 spot in terms of total receipts and cash with the help of a $3.1 million loan.

That, along with an additional $987,761 in transfers from two other of Harwell’s campaign accounts and $1.19 million from actual contributions gave the speaker a total of $5.21 million.

After expenditures, Harwell reported $5.05 million stashed in the bank, according to her disclosure, which was filed Wednesday night with the Registry of Election Finance.

The reporting period was from July 1 to Jan. 15.

Tennessee’s raft of millionaire candidates was on full display in the latest filings. Black, a Gallatin congresswoman, loaned her campaign $1 million but also raised nearly $1.74 million from donors. It was the highest amount of contributions among the total four GOP candidates and two Democratic candidates.

After spending $987,761, Black finished with $1.73 million in cash on hand.

Knoxville Republican businessman and former state economic and community development commissioner Randy Boyd gave his campaign another $2 million, bringing the total amount he’s given to it to $4 million in the race to succeed the term-limited Gov. Bill Haslam.

Boyd also raised $1.25 million. After spending $2.66 million, Boyd finished the reporting period with $4.09 million in cash on hand, the second highest amount after Harwell.

Among Democrats, former Nashville Mayor Karl Dean finished tops, raising $1.245 million and loaning $200,000 to his campaign for a total of $1.445 million. After spending about $630,000, Dean ended with a $1.8 million cash balance.

Williamson County businessman Bill Lee finished fourth among Republicans in terms of fundraising, reporting $904,743 from donors, coupled with $908,000 from himself. After spending $595,987, he reported $3.74 million in cash on hand.

State House Minority Leader Craig Fitzhugh, D-Ripley, finished last in terms of fundraising. He raised $304,513, loaned his campaign $500,000, spent $134,733 and reported $681,856 in cash on hand.

Kay White, a Johnson City Realtor running in the GOP primary, reported having $458.08 in her account.

As of Jan. 15, the seven candidates collectively had $17.11 million in cash on hand.