When it comes to money, Knoxville Mayor Bill Haslam is more than three times ahead of GOP primary opponent Zach Wamp in the Tennessee governor’s race, preliminary fundraising reports show.
Jeremy Harrell, a spokesman for the Haslam campaign, said it had raised “in the neighborhood of $3.8 million” as of June 30. He said that amount surpassed the campaign’s internal goal, but he would not say what the goal was.
Mr. Haslam and his wife have given $2,500 contributions to the campaign — the legal limit — but have done no additional self-funding, Mr. Harrell said.
The campaign of U.S. Rep. Wamp, R-Tenn., issued a news release Tuesday night stating that it had raised more than $1.2 million, surpassing its $1 million goal. The campaign had about $1 million on hand, the release said.
Rep. Wamp has said repeatedly that he expects to be outspent in the 2010 gubernatorial race, but “I won’t be outworked.”
“At the end of the day, this race is going to be decided by the people and not by the big money crowd,” Rep. Wamp said in a release sent out Tuesday night.
According to a release from the campaign of Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey, another Republican running for governor, it also has raised about $1.3 million. The release notes that the lieutenant governor has had less time to raise funds than his competitors because, as part of the leadership of the state Senate, he is not allowed to raise money during the legislative session.
“Ramsey’s fundraising efforts did not kick into high gear until June 18 when the legislative session ended — with the vast majority of his contributions coming in the last 13 days of the month,” says the release, which also said Tennessee had “outdated campaign finance regulations.”
Joe Hall, with the campaign of Shelby County District Attorney Bill Gibbons, another GOP gubernatorial candidate, said the Gibbons campaign will release figures later today.
In the Democratic primary race, only Nashville businessman Ward Cammack, who said he has raised “north of $200,000” had any preliminary figures available.
Spokesmen for the campaigns of State Sen. Roy Herron, D-Dresden; former state Rep. Kim McMillan, D-Clarksville; and Mike McWherter, son of former Gov. Ned McWherter, said their campaigns still are tallying receipts.