Political donations

Also donates to state GOP, NFL PAC

This year Gov. Bill Haslam has contributed to the re-election campaigns of 10 Republican senators and the NFL’s political action committee.

NASHVILLE — Gov. Bill Haslam has made contributions to the re-election campaigns of 10 Republican U.S. senators so far this year, building on a longtime lead over former Democratic Gov. Phil Bredesen in political donations to candidates for federal office, according to Federal Election Commission reports.

In addition to about $43,000 in donations to Republican senators — $5,000 each in most cases, none less than $2,500 — Haslam in 2015 also has sent $10,000 to the state Republican Party’s federal election account and $5,000 to the National Football League’s political action committee donating to federal candidates, the reports show.

The FEC lists individual donations to candidates for federal office by donor name since 1997. A records search under the names “William” and “Bill” Haslam, then combining the two, indicates the governor’s total contributions through June 30, 2015, total almost $500,000.

For the former governor, the comparable total is about $220,000, according to a search using both “Phil” and “Philip” Bredesen. This year, the former governor had made only two donations to federal candidates — $2,700 to former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley and $5,000 to the state Democratic Party’s federal campaign account.

O’Malley, regarded generally as an underdog candidate in the 2016 Democratic presidential primary, cited the Bredesen donation as an indication of support within the state during a campaign visit last week, according to The Tennessean. FEC reports show he has collected about $17,000 in donations from Tennesseans this year, including Bredesen, compared to $232,000 for presumptive front-runner Hillary Rodham Clinton and $21,000 for U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont.

Haslam has said he is not taking sides in the Republican presidential campaign this year, noting that he is currently chairman of the Republican Governors Association and several current or former fellow governors are among 17 candidates seeking the GOP presidential nomination. As quoted by TNReport last week, Haslam said, “It’s probably best for me to stay out of it until I am either not in this role (as RGA chairman) or that field narrows some.” Haslam was elected to a one-year term as RGA chairman Nov. 19, 2014.

FEC reports show that the governor’s father, brother, sister and son are donors to the campaign of former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush. His brother, James “Jimmy” Haslam III, is CEO of the family-owned Pilot Flying J truck stop/ gas station business, as well as owner of the NFL’s Cleveland Browns. He and other family members, like the governor, are also donors to the NFL’s Gridiron PAC, FEC records show.

U.S. senators listed as receiving donations from Gov. Haslam are Sens. Roy Blunt of Missouri, Richard Burr of North Carolina, Rob Portman of Ohio, Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire, Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, John Hardy Isakson of Georgia, John McCain of Arizona, John Boozman of Arkansas, Pat Toomy of Pennsylvania and Tim Scott of South Carolina.

Forbes magazine has estimated Haslam’s net worth as more than $1 billion and labeled him the “richest politician” in the United States. The governor has declined to comment on that estimate. Bredesen, while in office, was often estimated to have a net worth of more than $100 million, a figure he declined to confirm while once saying it was “maybe in the ballpark.”