Fincher Posts Another $300,000-Plus Quarter

Gospel singing farmer Stephen Fincher (R) raised well over $300,000 for a third quarter in a row from January to March and had nearly $820,000 in cash on hand at the end of last month, his campaign announced on Tuesday.

Fincher’s unique background and impressive fundraising ability are two key reasons why he’s become a darling of national party officials in west Tennessee’s battleground 8th district. And those leaders showed their love for Fincher during the first quarter.

Fincher received fundraising help from National Republican Congressional Committee Chairman Pete Sessions (Texas), who raised about $30,000 for Fincher’s campaign at a luncheon fundraiser in Memphis during the President’s Day Recess. Last week, NRCC vice chairman Lynn Westmoreland (Ga.) hit the road to raise money for Fincher.

“Traveling across the district, it’s clear that most voters are looking for a common-sense conservative whose roots run deep in Tennessee, not politics,” Fincher said in a statement Tuesday. “That’s why we’ve been blessed with an outpouring of support from everyday folks.”

If he can make it through a competitive primary that includes a wealthy local physician and a county commissioner from Memphis, Fincher will take on Sen. Roy Herron (D) in the general election.

Update: Herron’s camp upstaged Fincher Tuesday afternoon by announcing that the state senator raked in about $490,000 from January to March and ended the quarter with over $1 million in cash on hand.

Herron, who is proving to be one of Tennessee’s top Democratic fundraisers this cycle, dropped a gubernatorial bid to enter the 8th district race in early December. Herron raised over $900,000 by the time he ended his gubernatorial bid. He turned around and raised $675,000 for his Congressional campaign during the month of December.

CQ Politics presently rates the Tennessee 8 race as a Tossup.
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