Candidate for Tanner's seat raises $300,000

Republican Stephen Fincher’s campaign will report today that it raised $303,250 in September in its bid to unseat longtime Democratic U.S. Rep. John Tanner, with all but $2,900 raised in donations coming from the pockets of Tennesseans, according to the campaign.

Tanner, of Union City, will report about $55,000 raised during this past quarter (July-September) but about $1.4 million on hand.

Fincher, 37, filed his name with the Federal Elections Commission in early September. This is his first political race.

Some Republicans have billed Fincher, a farmer and gospel singer from Frog Jump, as Tanner’s first meaningful challenger in two decades.

He was working on fundraising efforts and unavailable for comment on Wednesday, said Danny Ellis, co-chairman of Fincher’s campaign.

Ellis rebuffed questions about the first-time candidate’s experience. “We don’t need a 20-year career politician in Washington, D.C.,” he said.

Tanner, a member of the fiscally conservative Blue Dog Coalition of congressional Democrats playing a key role in the debate on health care reform, has come under fire recently by critics who say he is distant and out of touch with his West Tennessee district.

During the August recess, conservative critics slammed Tanner for not holding a traditional town hall forum to hear concerns and complaints from his constituents. Tanner denied he was attempting to avoid tense confrontations and heckling his colleagues faced at congressional town halls elsewhere, with he and his staff saying a teleconference approach allowed them to connect with thousands of constituents.

Randy Ford, a Tanner spokesman, on Wednesday noted the time the congressman spent meeting with constituents in August. “Fundraising was not the focus for him,” he said.

A survey conducted on behalf of Tanner’s campaign found that he held two-to-one support for his job performance among those sampled and led a Republican rival by that margin, according to early August survey findings provided to The Jackson Sun. The results also say he polled strongly with conservatives and moderates.

Tanner has been weakened some by an “anti-Obama fever” among Tennesseans and may need to bolster and emphasize his independence from the president and more liberal national Democrats, said Sean Evans, a Union University political science professor.

The question now is whether the wave of Obama backlash is powerful enough among West Tennesseans to unseat an entrenched incumbent such as Tanner, Evans said.

“Personally, I think it will have to be a very large wave to take Tanner down,” Evans said. But, “I would be surprised if Tanner voted for (a health care reform bill). I think by doing that (a “No” vote) he makes it more difficult for Republicans to attack him as out of touch.”

Still, Tanner should be able to raise plenty of money to counter the “impressive” sum Fincher put up in the third quarter, Evans said. “The one thing he has to be concerned with is … he hasn’t had a real race since he was first elected” in 1988, he said.

But the interest and publicity Fincher has received from the National Republican Congressional Committee shows the bullishness among the GOP on his chances, Evans said. Plus, should Republicans solidify and improve upon their historic gains at the state level in 2008, Tanner’s district could be redrawn to be more favorable to a GOP hopeful in 2012, he said.

“I think if someone makes a strong showing against Tanner in 2010, I think with a new, more Republican-leaning district, they become the odds on favorite … in 2012,” Evans said.

Tipton County computer consultant Donn Janes also is seeking the GOP nomination for Tanner’s seat.
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