Complaint alleges Blackburn used Senate campaign funds for gov bid

Arrest of Nashville reporter by ICE sparks First Amendment concerns * A complaint alleges U.S. Sen. Marsh Blackburn illegally used U.S. Senate campaign funds for her Tennessee gubernatorial bid. * Blackburn's federal campaign spending is nearly double that of Sen. Bill Hagerty, who is actively running for reelection to the Senate. * Disclosures show that Blackburn's state and federal campaigns concurrently paid at least six of the same staff, sometimes reporting identical payments to the same staffer on the same day. * Blackburn's campaign denies any wrongdoing, calling the complaint "frivolous" and a misunderstanding of finance laws. A Knoxville Republican has filed a complaint with the Tennessee Registry of Election Finance, asserting U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn used U.S. Senate campaign funds to fuel her run for Tennessee governor in what he says was a "flagrant violation" of campaign finance law. Blackburn is not up for federal reelection until 2030. But in the months leading up to her gubernatorial campaign launch on March 6, 2025, she spent nearly $2.8 million in federal campaign funds toward her 2030 reelection bid. That's nearly twice what her counterpart U.S. Sen. Bill Hagerty has spent toward his 2026 reelection bid. Federal law allows U.S. senators to run for state office while maintaining an active federal committee. But candidates are not allowed to use federal campaign funds for expenses that are unrelated to their campaign or responsibilities as a federal officeholder -- like running for a state office. Tennessee law also bars using federal campaign assets for state purposes. "We haven't had a case like this in Tennessee," said Nashville attorney Junaid Odubeko, whose specialties include campaign finance. "We certainly haven't had a challenge develop to the point that there's case law. It's uncharted territory." Since announcing her gubernatorial bid on Aug. 6, Blackburn has paid at least six staffers from both her gubernatorial and U.S. Senate campaign accounts concurrently. Sometimes, both accounts have reported the exact same payroll expenditure for the same staffer on the same day, making it unclear whether the staffer is working on Blackburn's gubernatorial or U.S. Senate campaign. A campaign spokesperson told The Tennessean that the campaign's compliance is "strict and continuous," and that all federal and state expenditures are reviewed by lawyers to ensure legal compliance. "The campaign finance laws are very very complex, and elected officials of all parties become very adept at trying to find a loophole," said Kent Syler, professor of political science and public policy at Middle Tennessee State University. Among the expenses disclosed to the Federal Election Commission was a $35,000 contribution to the Republican Governors Association on Oct. 23. Blackburn also spent a total of $326,774 in payments to her campaign management firm, Brentwood-based Baker Group Strategies - which ran both her 2024 Senate reelection and her gubernatorial campaign. Her U.S. Senate campaign spending with Baker Group includes a $26,532 payment for "travel/food & beverage/subscriptions" on Aug. 5, the day before her gubernatorial campaign launch. In comparison, U.S. Sen. Bill Hagerty spent $1.6 million total during that same time frame. In a statement, Blackburn's campaign manager Abigail Sigler called the complaint "frivolous and wrong." Bill Young, director of the Bureau of Ethics and Campaign Finance, declined to comment until the Registry Board has reviewed and responded to the complaint. The Registry of Election Finance will likely have only two more meetings before the gubernatorial primary. "Money is very important in a campaign. What campaigns do is they will try to find other money at their disposal to help their cause," Syler said. "Being aggressive at that is not necessarily bad. But you can't be so aggressive that you end up breaking the law." What does the complaint say? Knoxville Republican Gary Loe filed the complaint with the Tennessee Registry of Election Finance on Jan. 30. "Senator Blackburn has deliberately misrepresented federal campaign expenditures to disguise her use of federal campaign contributions from her 'Marsha for Senate' campaign account to use as state campaign expenditures for her race for governor," Loe wrote in the complaint. Loe's complaint primarily compares Blackburn's nearly $2.8 million in federal campaign spending across 2025, the year after she won reelection to the U.S. Senate, to her $404,325 in federal campaign spending in 2019, the year after she was first elected. Loe argues that because Blackburn spent significantly more in the months leading up to her gubernatorial campaign launch than she had in a parallel post-election year, federal campaign funds must have illegally gone toward gubernatorial campaign expenses. "[The complaint] reflects a fundamental misunderstanding of federal and state campaign finance law, established reporting requirements, and Senator Blackburn's role within the current political landscape," Sigler said. "Comparing the role Senator Blackburn had six years ago with her role today ignores the critical work she has done nationally to advance the Republican Party and conservative values." Odubeko notes that there are many legitimate expenses a sitting U.S. senator can make from a federal account - even after announcing a gubernatorial bid - that can indirectly benefit their state level candidacy by building name recognition. "You can be an announced candidate for governor and go on a statewide listening tour and go from Memphis to Mountain City and talk about the issues you're dealing with," he said. Blackburn's federal and state accounts paid staff concurrently Blackburn paid at least six Baker Group staff out of her Senate account and state campaign account concurrently after her Aug. 6 campaign launch, according to disclosures. For example, Blackburn's Senate disclosure reports a payroll payment to Sigler of $13,174.42 on Dec. 11, 2025. An identical payment of $13,174.42 was reported on the same day from Blackburn's gubernatorial account. Political director Jack Carnes was paid $5,975.08, an expense reported identically on both state and federal disclosures. "While certain staff are paid through Senator Blackburn's federal committee, Marsha for Governor has consistently and timely reimbursed the federal committee for its proportionate share of payroll expenses attributable to gubernatorial campaign work, exactly as required by law," the spokesperson said. Odubeko called the matter a "largely untested area" of campaign finance law but said candidates sometimes use outside consulting firms to handle multiple operations, noting that Blackburn is both a sitting U.S. senator and a declared gubernatorial candidate. "If you start seeing duplication, things like that, that's something that a regulatory body would look at closely," he said. Syler said such a setup may not be unprecedented, but he anticipates it will be examined in the Registry of Election Finance probe. "The burden of proof would be on the campaign to demonstrate what they were paying for," Syler said. "Were they paying for something that had to do with something that would aid the U.S. Senate campaign? ... That is a question that I'm sure the registry will ask. Blackburn also disclosed rent payments for both campaigns to 416 Wilson Pike Circle LLC, a real estate agent located at the same address as Baker Group Strategies. According to business filings with the Tennessee Secretary of State, the realty is owned by Baker Group's chief political strategist Ward Baker. Prior to Blackburn's gubernatorial campaign launch, her Senate campaign was paying about $13,500 monthly in rent to 416 Wilson Pike Circle LLC. That dropped to $1,025 after her bid for governor was announced. Her gubernatorial campaign account is now paying $12,475 monthly, to reach the previous $13,500 amount. Blackburn also reported expenses to several of the same vendors for both U.S. Senate and gubernatorial campaigns concurrently, including finance consultants at Pass Group LLC, and digital fundraising and advertising services from Arlington, Virginia-based firm Targeted Victory LLC. Blackburn announced her candidacy on Aug. 6, 2025, exactly one year before the primary election. Candidates are required to open new state fundraising accounts when they formally declare a bid. How does it compare with Hagerty's spending during the same period? According to his most recent FEC filing, Hagerty spent just over $1.6 million total last year toward his 2026 reelection bid. Primarily, Hagerty's spending was on digital fundraising and advertising, according to disclosures. Of that, about $138,600 was spent with Baker Group Strategies during the first three quarters of 2025. Hagerty's disclosures do not reveal any full-time campaign staff. He goes into the election season with $5.3 million cash on hand. A spokesperson for the Blackburn campaign called comparing the two senators' spending "misleading and intellectually unserious," noting that in 2019, Blackburn was a freshman senator and she has since become vice president of the National Republican Senatorial Committee. "When viewed in proper context, the spending levels cited are entirely ordinary," the campaign spokesperson said. "By way of comparison, in 2025, the campaign committee of Sen. Ted Cruz - another sitting U.S. Senator, who shares the same election calendar, seeking reelection - spent nearly $6 million, underscoring that Sen. Blackburn's expenditures are well within the normal range for senior federal officeholders." Who is Gary Loe? A retired Knoxville journalist, Loe is now president of the Tennessee Conservative Union, a group that endorsed Blackburn during her 2018 run for U.S. Senate. In an interview with USA TODAY Network-Tennessee, Loe said his interest was piqued when he saw an ad Blackburn released to wish constituents a Merry Christmas in December 2024, weeks after winning reelection, as she was rumored to be considering a gubernatorial bid. "The amount of spending was unusual for someone who just won reelection," Loe said. "It seemed odd that she did not announce until August. But when we looked at her campaign spending, there was an extraordinary amount of spending through 2025." Tennessee law barring candidates from using federal funds in state races was passed to level the playing field when federal campaign funds gave members of Congress an advantage in gubernatorial bids. "It's very clear that you've got to pay for a state race out of a state committee," Syler said. "What is somewhat less clear is what are permissible [federal] expenses that could help you win a state office that aren't necessarily on paper denied. Like, if you buy an ad wishing people a Merry Christmas ... which obviously helps you with name ID but you're not advocating for yourself for state office in the ad -- is that a violation? That's a tough question." Now, Loe told USA TODAY Network-Tennessee, he wants the Tennessee Bureau of Ethics and Campaign Finance to compel Blackburn to "do the right thing." "It's not a partisan thing where we want the opposition to do the right thing," Loe said. "We want everyone to do the right thing." Vivian Jones covers state government and politics for The Tennessean. Reach her at vjones@tennessean.com. Allie Feinberg is the politics reporter for Knox News. Email: allie.feinberg@knoxnews.com; Reddit: u/KnoxNewsAllie