February 2, 2005

A First Look at the 2006 U.S. Senate Race in Tennessee

It's only February 2005, but things are already heating up in the 2006 race for the U.S. Senate in Tennessee, for the seat that current senator and Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist has said he will vacate.

There are two men considered to be front-runners in the race for the GOP nomination, and passel of other likely GOP candidates. I'm not paying attention to the Democratic side in the race because, really, who cares? When they have a nominee, I'll pay attention.

The two front-runners for the GOP nod are thought to be former U.S. Rep. Ed Bryant, who lost the 2002 primary to eventual senate seat winner Lamar Alexander, and current Chattanooga Mayor Bob Corker.

The latest news: A poll shows Bryant with a double-digit lead, and Corker has raised a lot of money - but Corker is under fire because his fundraising seems to indicate a coziness with Democrats.

First, the poll.

The Chattanooga Times-Free Press reported a few days ago on a poll that showed Bryant has a big lead over Corker and other challengers. The poll was commissioned by Bryant so Corker and the others immediately dismissed it. However, I have no doubt that Bryant would be in the lead at this point in any independent poll given his statewide name recognition after the 2002 campaign.

Corker, meanwhile, may lead the fundraising race, having raised a reported $2 million in the past three months. No other candidate has had to file a financial disclosure yet, but that's a lot of money this early in the race.

Corker, however, does have his critics. And also these critics, who claim he's raising a lot of money either from Democrats or from folks who are cozy with Democrats.

TeamGOP said it is "questioning whether another Republican is being bought by power or position by Democrat power-brokers. TeamGOP has learned that many in the fundraising arm of Bob Corker's U.S. Senate Campaign are large donors and fundraisers for Democrats, in particularly Governor Phil Bredesen."

Jeff Ward, general chairman of TeamGOP, said, "There is a growing perception among Republicans and Democrats alike that the race for U.S. Senate in 2006 will be decided in the Republican primary and it appears many Democrats have picked their candidate." He said he was referring to a $1,000 a person fundraiser last month for Bob Corker at the home of Ben and Joan Rechter.

TeamGOP said, "According to the records from the Tennessee Registry of Finance, a majority of the twenty 'Hosts' of the event donated over $83,000 to Governor Bredesen and Democrat candidates. The mantra being repeated is that if Democrats cannot have a Democrat Senator, Bob Corker is the next best thing."

Mr. Ward said, "Over the last several weeks, anger has been boiling within the Republican ranks because of elected Republicans selling their political souls to Democrats. It seems likely Mr. Corker's soon-to-be released campaign disclosure will create more troubling questions for rank-and-file Republicans.

"If he (Corker) has the entire Bredesen fundraising machine working full time, he should have $10 million in the bank instead of the $2 million he will supposedly report."

Mr. Ward said many Republicans "had taken issue with Mr. Corker having a meet and greet for then Mayor Bredesen at his home in Chattanooga during the 2002 election." Also, he said, "Mr. Corker’s wife contributing to Democrat state legislators was another red flag. One of the main complaints we have heard recently is during the fall of 2004, while other potential senatorial candidates were out knocking on doors for the State House and State Senate and working to put Tennessee in President Bush's column, Mr. Corker was out raising money for his own race two years out."

Bryant's the front-runner.