Trump outraises Clinton in June, July
Few GOP lawmakers in state contribute funds
USA TODAY NETWORK — Tennessee
Donald Trump is continuing to close the fundraising gap with Hillary Clinton in Tennessee.
But the Republican nominee still lacks financial support from the state’s elected GOP lawmakers, who have yet to open up their wallets in large numbers for the New York real estate mogul.
While Trump’s latest disclosure statements show Tennesseans gave him more money than Clinton for the second month in a row, a Tennessean analysis found he has received donations from just four of the 108 elected state Republicans in Congress and the Tennessee General Assembly.
The real estate mogul’s latest campaign finance reports show that he outraised Clinton in Tennessee by more than $115,000.
In total, Trump raised about $433,800 from residents of the state in July, while Clinton brought in just $318,400.
The month before, he outraised his Democratic counterpart by $123,000, according to the latest federal disclosure statements, which is significantly more than his campaign previously reported.
Trump’s previously filed campaign reports showed he received over 600 donations totaling about $195,000 from Tennesseans in June.
But his latest disclosure reveals that he actually brought in 2,300 donations from Tennesseans totaling $311,000 during June.
It is not unusual for campaigns to amend their campaign disclosure statements but Trump’s newest filing makes significant changes.
That’s because in July Trump’s campaign committee received transfers from Trump Victory and Trump Make America Great Again Committee — two committees that raise funds for his presidential campaign, the Republican National Committee and other state party committees — according to Christian Hilland, a deputy press officer with the Federal Election Commission.
“Some of the contributions from individuals that make up those transfers were received by the joint fundraising committees in June,” Hilland told The Tennessean.
Of the Tennesseans to donate to Trump this year, he has taken in just $567 from 3 percent of Republican lawmakers in Congress and the statehouse. Not one of the nine Republican members of the state’s congressional delegation — including U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn, who had a primetime speaking slot at the Republican National Convention and U.S. Sen. Bob Corker, who was considered a vice-presidential candidate — has written a check to Trump, a trend that has expanded beyond Tennessee.
Only two Republican members of Congress have donated to Trump, according to a Fortune analysis of his latest campaign contributions.
In Tennessee, state Reps. Jeremy Durham, Kelly Keisling and Bill Sanderson and state Sen. Mae Beavers, who served as chairwoman of the state’s delegation to the RNC, are the only lawmakers to give money to the billionaire this election cycle.
By comparison, at this same point in the 2012 election, former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney received at total of $24,000 from four of Tennessee’s Republican members of Congress, including Blackburn, and three state lawmakers — House Speaker Beth Harwell and Sen. Jack Johnson and Beavers.
Romney also received two $2,500 donations from Gov. Bill Haslam during the same time period.
Although Haslam has not written a check to Trump, his father, James Haslam II, who also donated to Romney in 2012, has given the presidential candidate $2,700.
Clinton, meanwhile, has received $7,700 from five Tennessee Democratic lawmakers — or 15 percent of the 33 seats the party holds between Congress and the state legislature — during the 2016 election cycle.
The Democratic lawmakers to give to Clinton are: U.S. Rep. Jim Cooper, state Sen. Jeff Yarbro and state Reps. Craig Fitzhugh, Harold Love and Raumesh Akbari, who spoke at the Democratic National Convention.
During the same time period in the 2012 election, President Barack Obama received $2,100 from five Democratic state lawmakers.
Despite besting Clinton in June and July in terms of donations from Tennesseans, Trump still falls behind her. He has, however, made significant headway in recent months, given the fact that as recently as May, Clinton had raised more than 15 times the amount he had. Trump did not actively begin fundraising until May.
Overall Clinton has reported receiving $2.1 million from Tennesseans during this election cycle while Trump has raked in $857,000.
Nationwide, Trump has a sizable disadvantage in terms of fundraising as well.
Unless Trump has a sudden flood of donations in the final two months of the election year, he will fall significantly short of the totals Romney and John McCain raised from Tennesseans in their respective campaigns.
In 2012, Romney brought in a total of $12 million from Tennesseans and McCain reported $2.9 million in donations.
With vice presidential candidate Tim Kaine attending a fundraiser in Nashville this week and the prospect of Clinton returning for another event in the future, she could challenge Obama’s 2008 fundraising totals, when he raised $3.6 million from the state. In 2012, he brought in $4.6 million.