Follow the Money
How much each candidate has raised, spent, and has on hand, sourced from official filings.
War Chest
Total funds raised by each candidate.
15 qualified candidates have no TREF disclosure on file at last refresh. They appear above with empty bars so the full field is visible.
Source: Tennessee Registry of Election Finance + public disclosures | Last updated: August 14, 2026
Detailed Breakdown
| Candidate | Party | Total Raised | Personal Loans | Total Spent | Cash on Hand |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| John Rose | R | $14,974,751 | $12,999,804 | $14,313,537 | $661,214 |
| Marsha Blackburn | R | $10,735,910 | $0 | $8,044,686 | $2,691,224 |
| Jerri Green | D | $849,586 | $0 | $731,584 | $118,002 |
| Lauren Pinkston | I | $342,264 | $98,182 | $324,644 | $17,620 |
| Monty Fritts | R | $315,130 | $26,000 | $287,756 | $27,374 |
| Tim Cyr | D | $40 | $0 | $0 | $146 |
| Carnita Atwater | D | No TREF disclosure on file | |||
| Adam "Ditch" Kurtz | D | No TREF disclosure on file | |||
| Kevin Lee McCants | D | No TREF disclosure on file | |||
| Misam Abidi | I | No TREF disclosure on file | |||
| Dean Brewer | I | No TREF disclosure on file | |||
| Ray Brown | I | No TREF disclosure on file | |||
| David Hatley | I | No TREF disclosure on file | |||
| Wendell Jackson | I | No TREF disclosure on file | |||
| Charles Van Morgan | I | No TREF disclosure on file | |||
| Eddie Lee Murphy | I | No TREF disclosure on file | |||
| Victor L. Scoggin | I | No TREF disclosure on file | |||
| Dave Seeman | I | No TREF disclosure on file | |||
| Karl Knox Smithson | I | No TREF disclosure on file | |||
| L. Webb Taylor | I | No TREF disclosure on file | |||
| Robert C. Vick | I | No TREF disclosure on file | |||
Donor Profiles
Contribution counts and in-state donor percentages.
John Rose
Marsha Blackburn
Jerri Green
Lauren Pinkston
Monty Fritts
Tim Cyr
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Independent Expenditures
Money spent to support or oppose a candidate by groups the candidate cannot legally coordinate with. It never shows up in a campaign's own filings, which is why the totals above do not include it. We read every report these committees file with the state registry, because Tennessee publishes no bulk download of independent expenditures and its own search filter for them returns nothing.
| Date | Candidate | For or against | Paid to | Committee | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 21, 2026 | Lee Reeves | Support | LZRSADVERTISING | BEST OF TENNESSEE ACTION FUNDPre-Primary 2026 | $62,700 |
| Jul 21, 2026 | Tony Hullender | Support | LZRSADVERTISING | BEST OF TENNESSEE ACTION FUNDPre-Primary 2026 | $61,700 |
| Jul 21, 2026 | Christopher Brian Stewart | Support | LZRSADVERTISING | BEST OF TENNESSEE ACTION FUNDPre-Primary 2026 | $57,800 |
| Jul 21, 2026 | Brent Jones | Support | LZRSADVERTISING | BEST OF TENNESSEE ACTION FUNDPre-Primary 2026 | $57,300 |
| Jul 20, 2026 | Rusty Crowe | Support | WW ADVOCACY & MEDIAADVERTISING | BEST OF TENNESSEE ACTION FUNDPre-Primary 2026 | $30,271 |
| Jul 14, 2026 | Lee Reeves | Support | ARENAADVERTISING | BEST OF TENNESSEE ACTION FUNDPre-Primary 2026 | $9,904.41 |
| Jul 14, 2026 | Tony Hullender | Support | ARENAADVERTISING | BEST OF TENNESSEE ACTION FUNDPre-Primary 2026 | $9,642.13 |
| Jul 14, 2026 | Brent Jones | Support | ARENAADVERTISING | BEST OF TENNESSEE ACTION FUNDPre-Primary 2026 | $8,874.12 |
| Jul 14, 2026 | Christopher Brian Stewart | Support | ARENAADVERTISING | BEST OF TENNESSEE ACTION FUNDPre-Primary 2026 | $8,280.03 |
What this covers, and what it does not
Best of Tennessee. A 501(c)(4) moved $650,000 into the Action Fund weeks before the August 2026 primary, which then spent $306,471.69 on five Republican legislative candidates. The c4's own donors are secret, so independent expenditures are the only public trace of where that money went.
This is not every independent expenditure in Tennessee. It is every one filed by the committees listed above, which we walk report by report each week. A committee we do not watch is not represented here, and an absence below is not evidence that no money was spent.
Source: Tennessee Registry of Election Finance (apps.tn.gov/tncamp) | Checked weekly | Filings last changed: August 8, 2026 at 8:15 PM CDT | 25 filed rows on file across all years
The Money Story
John Rose leads in total dollars raised at $14.97M, but $13.00M of that is a personal loan, leaving $661K in cash on hand. Marsha Blackburn holds the largest war chest at $2.69M cash on hand, raised entirely from donors. A separate group, Team Tennessee PAC, has raised $3.52M supporting Marsha Blackburn. On the Democratic side, Jerri Green leads the field with $850K.
The most telling metric on the Republican side may be donor geography. Rose's heavily-in-state donor base suggests genuine Tennessee grassroots support. Blackburn's broader national reach reflects her Senate-built donor file, an advantage in fundraising but potentially a vulnerability if opponents frame her as Washington's candidate rather than Tennessee's. The TikTok-investor mega-donation lands awkwardly against Blackburn's own years of public criticism of TikTok as a national security threat.
Understanding the Numbers
Total Raised includes all contributions received by the campaign committee, including personal loans from the candidate. Personal loans are broken out separately because they can be repaid from future contributions.
Cash on Hand is the amount remaining after spending. This is the most telling indicator of a campaign's current strength, and it shows how much firepower they have for the months ahead.
In-State vs. Out-of-State donor percentages reveal whether a candidate's support is homegrown or driven by national interest groups. Higher in-state percentages generally indicate stronger grassroots support.
All figures come from the Tennessee Registry of Election Finance (TREF). Campaigns file quarterly, with additional pre-election reports required. We update this page after each filing deadline.
Explore the Tracker
About this tracker
This tracker is produced by The Tennessee Firefly, an independent, nonpartisan news outlet covering education and government in Tennessee. We don't endorse candidates. We don't take political ads. We follow the money, the policy, and the people who shape your kids' schools. All data comes from official filings, verified reporting, and on-the-record sources, with freshness timestamps visible on every page that surfaces live data.