Money pours in for Luttrell, Cohen campaigns
Follow the money, they say. So I followed it all the way to the deep, dark catacombs of the Shelby County Election Commission’s website, where a fresh batch of campaign finance disclosures, filed in recent days, tell us plenty about politics in our community this election year. Such as: 1: It stands to reason that a sitting, relatively controversy-free Republican county mayor would be a magnet for the business community’s contributions, but reading Mark Luttrell’s disclosure shows just how strong a magnet that is. FedEx’s political action committee has already given $6,000. AutoZone is in for $ 4,000. And this is just through March 31, as these are first-quarter filings.
In descriptions of con- tributors’ occupations, the terms “president” or “CEO” or “owner” are prominent. Local CEOs John Faraci (International Paper), Bryan Jordan (First Tennessee) and Bill Rhodes (AutoZone) are each in for $1,000.
More than a dozen employees of the Shelby County government are down for donations, too, including former corrections director James E. Coleman, who gave $400 on Feb. 27 — and resigned on March 25.
Luttrell, who f igures to breeze past perennial candidate Ernest Lunati in his own primary, has nearly one-third of a million dollars for the general election contest with the Democratic nominee.
2: One of the Democratic mayoral competitors, Steve Mulroy, offered a few details in his most recent filing worth noting. Among his expenditures, for things like printing and a trip to Costco, is this one: $1,000 to District 9 County Commissioner Justin Ford’s campaign for re-election.
Mulroy also received a healthy union donation, $5,000 from the United Food and Commercial Workers International.
And if you’re wondering what it costs to put down a deposit on a campaign headquarters office at Midtown’s Minglewood Hall, wonder no more: It’s $500.
3: Given the track record of challengers to U. S. Rep. Steve Cohen in the 9th Congressional District, many view Ricky Wilkins’ chances to unseat him in the Democratic primary as decidedly uphill. The filings, as reported to the Federal Election Commission, back that up.
As of March 31, Cohen reported $943,149 in campaign funds, and Wilkins reported $112,286.
4: State Senate District 29 will get quite a bit of publicity over the summer, what with sitting Sen. Ophelia Ford getting a name challenge in sitting Memphis City Council member Lee Harris.
Harris, who has been pushing through social media for $29 donations (for District 29), reported $5,641 in the fi rst fi ling period.
Ford, meanwhile, reported a $20,073 balance.
5: When County Commission chairman James Harvey withdrew from the county mayor race in February, he said he would launch a campaign to run for Memphis mayor next year. He’s true to his word, already filing a report for that office that shows $9,000 in the bank.
6: District 4 County Commissioner Mark Billingsley has the largest balance on hand of any commission candidate who met the March 31 deadline. (Note: It appears that many did not, and the $25-per-day fine for not filing should be noted.)
Billingsley reported $29,986 as of the end of the first-quarter filing period. Billingsley faces a Repub- lican primary challenge from Ron Fittes, who reported $403 in his filing. If Billingsley is successful, he’ll face Jackie Jackson, a Democrat, in the general election. She has $797.
Notable Billingsley contributors include school board member Billy Orgel, former U. S. Attorney David Kustoff and Methodist Healthcare CEO Gary Shorb. Billingsley is the director of major gifts for Methodist Healthcare Foundation.
7: And then there’s this: Karl L. Bond, a candidate in District 6, brought in $ 870 and spent $ 865.88 — leaving him a March 31 balance of $4.12. For a more in-depth version of this column with digital-only elements, check commercialappeal.com and our digital apps each Friday afternoon.