The latest Federal Election Commission (FEC) filings show Republicans running in the special primary election for Tennessee’s 7th Congressional District are leading the fundraising race, with two candidates—State Representatives Lee Reeves (R-Franklin) and Gino Bulso (R-Brentwood)—each hauling in over half a million dollars.
Reeves tops the list with $569,014.74 raised and $487,486.99 spent, closely trailed by Bulso, who reported $550,005.46 in contributions and $474,449.25 in expenditures.
Republican Mason Foley, who formerly served as an aide to U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY), follows with $396,278.00 raised and $272,360.60 spent.
The only other candidates who have raised at least $300,000 for the special primary include Republicans Matthew Van Epps, a former Lee administration official and U.S. Army veteran, and Stewart Parks, a pardoned J6er.
Van Epps reported $359,255.53 in contributions and $249,876.99 in expenditures, while Parks raised $334,306.68 and spent $330,033.76.
State Representative. Jody Barrett (R-Dickson) brought in $241,872.21, spending $171,717.91.
On the Democratic side, Darden Copeland, a Nashville businessman, ranks third overall in fundraising, with $434,936.30 in receipts and disbursements, totaling $43,213.74.
Behind him, State Representative. James Bo Mitchell (D-Nashville) has raised $202,840.25, with $108,806.59 in disbursements.
He is followed by State Representatives Aftyn Behn (D-Nashville), who raised $149,028.10 and spent $104,364.54, and Vincent Dixie (D-Nashville), who raised $138,229.64 and spent $93,009.50.
Democratic candidates’ lower fundraising totals come amid underwhelming voter turnout in Democratic strongholds of the 7th District during the early voting period, despite a national push to flip the district and grow the party’s footprint in Tennessee.
Voters in the 7th District – which includes Stewart, Montgomery, Robertson, Houston, Dickson, Cheatham, Humphreys, Hickman, Perry, Decatur, Wayne, and parts of Davidson, Benton, and Williamson counties – can bank their votes for the special primary through Thursday, October 2.
The special primary election will take place next Tuesday, October 7.
Voters who failed to register in time for the special primary have until November 3 to register to vote in the special general election, scheduled for December 2.
Early voting for the December 2 general election will run from November 12 through November 26
The final day for voters to request an absentee ballot for the special general election is November 22.
The Tennessee Secretary of State’s office shows a total of 26,805 absentee and in-person early votes – 13,866 from Republican voters and 12,939 from Democrats – have been cast across the 14 counties that make up the 7th District through Tuesday.
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
Photo “Lee Reeves” by Lee Reeves. Photo “Gino Bulso” by Gino Bulso. Photo “Darden Copeland” by Darden Copeland.Â
You almost feel sorry for Behn’s parents, especially the UT Accounting Professor dad. How much cheaper would it have been for them, instead of funding her political career and every other aspect of her financial life, if she could have become a barista and limited her political content to firing off outraged X and Facebook posts on her breaks about how much she loves homosexuals, trannies and illegal aliens.
Browsing the FEC reports, it’s always humorous to look at Behn’s contributions. In addition to her rent, food, note payments, clothing allowance, pet food, etc. that they pay for her, her parents, including her UT Professor Dad are in hock for over $8,000 to her campaign. That could have been a few rent payments for their otherwise never employed daughter, the lifelong “social activist”