The Ed Bryant for Senate campaign said recently released reports from the Federal Election Commission (FEC) reveal that he "not only still leads his closest rival, 2002 gubernatorial nominee Van Hilleary, in both funds raised for the Republican primary and cash-on-hand for the Republican primary, but that Bryant has received more contributions for the primary from Tennesseans than Hilleary has received from all sources combined." But the Hilleary camp disagreed.

Hilleary officials said, "The Bryant campaign wants Republicans to believe that less is more and that more is less. Today it needed a 355-word press release to try and spin its way out of the truth, which can be summarized in just 16 words: Bryant has raised the least, has the least on hand, and is raising less every quarter."

Bryant officials said, "Bryant, who enters the final quarter of the year with an approximately $145,000 lead over Hilleary in the Republican primary, has received more than 90% of his financial support from Tennesseans. In contrast, Hilleary has relied on out-of-state contacts to elicit a staggering 17% of his funds for the Tennessee Republican primary, including $40,000 raised within his Chicago-based lobbying firm. Another 20% of Hilleary’s funds are dedicated to the general election and cannot be legally spent during the primary. In cash-on-hand for the primary, Bryant maintains an almost $40,000 advantage over Hilleary.

"Bryant also dominates over all other candidates – Democrat and Republican – in the telling FEC category of smaller contributions which are widely considered a reflection of grassroots support. Bryant leads both Hilleary and Democrat Harold Ford Jr. by a more than 2-to-1 margin and Republican Bob Corker by a 3-to-1 margin. Bryant remains the first and only candidate to announce that he has received financial contributions from every county in Tennessee.

"According to the Wall Street Journal, Ed Bryant is the strongest Republican candidate in Tennessee’s U.S. Senate race – and the only Republican to win a majority of the general election vote – when matched up against likely Democrat nominee Harold Ford Jr. According to their scientific survey conducted by Zogby International (September 16-21, 2005), Bryant (51.2%) would defeat Ford (40.0%) by more than 11 percentage points (with a margin of error of +/- 3.7%). Bryant has also led in three of the four scientific polls taken on the Republican primary candidates this year."

Hilleary officials responded:

Hilleary Raised 3Q: $337,880
Bryant Raised 3Q: $283,529

Hilleary Total Raised: $1,051,353
Bryant Total Raised: $1,026,594

Hilleary Cash-On-Hand: $841,843
Bryant Cash-On-Hand: $713,985

-Bryant 1st quarter raised: $414,908
-Bryant 2nd quarter raised: $327,831
-Bryant 3rd quarter raised: $283,529

Most Recent Scientific Primary Survey: Hilleary 33%, Bryant 15%, Corker 4%.