Tennessee Registry of Election Finance
Coverage of Tennessee Registry of Election Finance in the Nexus archive.
- Stockard on the Stump: Dark-money complaint headed to Tennessee Election Finance Registry
The Tennessee Registry of Election Finance will consider a complaint from Chip Buck, a campaign surrogate for U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn, against the American Exceptionalism Institute for allegedly failing to register and using undisclosed AI in dark-money ads targeting Blackburn. The complaint, filed after the August gubernatorial primary, claims the group spent over $5,000 on ads linking Blackburn to pharmaceutical contributions, including a defamatory 'queen pharma mama' ad.
- Blackburn backer seeks investigation into dark-money ads against gubernatorial candidate
A campaign surrogate for Tennessee gubernatorial candidate Marsha Blackburn filed a complaint against the American Exceptionalism Institute, alleging the dark-money group failed to report expenditures on ads criticizing Blackburn as 'queen pharma mama.' The complaint claims the group exceeded a $5,000 expenditure threshold and did not comply with state campaign finance laws. The ads reference a 2016 law co-sponsored by Blackburn linked to pharmaceutical industry lobbying.