Tea Party Complaint Filed With DA Office Says Vickers Financial Disclosure Hides Many Donors; Vickers Refutes Charges

  • Wednesday, July 22, 2020

The Chattanooga Tea Party has filed a complaint with the District Attorney's office over the financial disclosure from the Stephen Vickers for School Board District 1 campaign.

Brendan Jennings said he obtained the complaint form from the election. He said he returned it there, but was told it needed to go to the District Attorney's office. He then took it there.

Local election officials said earlier that candidates need to keep information on each gift, but do not need to disclose the names of those who gave under $100.

Mr. Jennings said, "I would like to issue a complaint as I believe a violation of the State campaign finance law has taken place in the campaign of Steven Vickers for Hamilton County School Board District 1 race.

"An analysis of Stephen Vickers' campaign in District 1 shows 59.2 percent of undisclosed donors based on his campaign's disclosure for the period ending 6/30/2020.  Since most campaigns typically have only 15-20 percent of undisclosed contributors, this departure from the norm seemed extreme. The Chattanooga Tea Party, the organization I represent, is not interested in individual names, but rather the potential for the channeling of campaign contributions from outside organizations which are then "laundered" through individual contributions of less than $100, perhaps more than once from the same individuals.

"Under Tennessee State law, campaigns are required to keep detailed reports for the undisclosed funds "fish bowl" contributions. Candidates must account for ALL contributions received; they are not allowed to accept anonymous campaign contributions (AG Opinion 97-065).

"Our goal is full transparency with all the campaigns, accurate record keeping for every donation with no hidden donors, and sunshine on dark money, particularly from groups outside of Hamilton County."

Mr. Vickers said, "As my campaign treasurer previously stated, the allegation made by the Chattanooga Tea Party concerning our donors is completely unfounded. Although we do have meticulous records, state law does not require us to disclose the names of donors $100 or less. None of our donors are anonymous, and every penny has been accounted for. Many of our donors are every day taxpayers that live and work in Hamilton County. They gave less than $100 because that’s what they could afford. While my opponent took $5,000 from the Good Government Coalition PAC, my campaign is a true, grassroots campaign. 

"Negative attacks, such as this, say a lot more about the person making the attack than the one being attacked. Mrs. Thurman’s friends  from the Tea Party are slinging mud in a desperate attempt to mislead voters. 

"I would like to thank the community for their tremendous support, and I ask for your vote on Aug. 6."
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