BLACKBURN BREAKS THE BANK! U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn raised over $5.5 million in campaign donations for her race for governor, according to the report she just filed. Her GOP primary opponent, Congressman John Rose, raised about $300,000 during the same period.
Blackburn received over 33,000 total individual contributions — setting a record for contributions received by a gubernatorial campaign in any reporting period. She quite literally broke the state’s antiquated campaign finance reporting system.
Blackburn has received fund from more donors than Rose, 42:1. She has also raised more than Randy Boyd, Diane Black, and Bill Lee in their first reporting periods COMBINED.
President Trump praised her campaign just last week, though following short of an actual endorsement. Based on the fundraising gap and recent poll numbers, Trump will likely make it official soon. He has already endorsed Tennessee Senator Bill Hagerty in his Senate reelection bid.
ROSE PRIMARILY RAKES IT IN FROM TENNESSEE. Congressman John Rose has also released his fundraising numbers. Reporting $6,456,005 in total funds received, which includes millions of dollars in contributions from himself. He has $4,712,735 cash on hand, having spent some on TV and Radio across the state last year. Rose reported raising $354,729 in contributions during the last quarter of 2025, while spending about $1.5 million.
Rose points to the fact that 92% of his contributions have been generated in Tennessee, while only 22% of Blackburn’s donations came from inside the state.
VAN HILLEARY REPORTS OVER $700,000 CASH ON HAND IN 6TH GOP PRIMARY. Former Congressman Van Hilleary, running in the Republican primary for Tennessee’s 6th Congressional District, has entered the first quarter of 2026 with more than $700,000 cash on hand, new Federal Election Commission (FEC) filings show.
According to his filing, Hilleary raised a total of $841,425.53 between July 1, 2025, and December 31, 2025. During the same period, Hilleary’s campaign spent $114,414.35, with $106,100.64 going toward operating expenses and $8,167.61 refunded to individual donors.
After his spending, Hilleary reported $727,011.18 in cash on hand heading into the new year, with no debts or outstanding loans.
Hilleary’s GOP primary opponent, Representative Johnny Garrett, reports having slightly over a million dollars cash on hand, with a $600,000 personal loan to his campaign.
A handful of other announced Republican candidates for the 6th District seat either did not file fundraising reports or have not raised significant funds.
Steve Gill is editor and Publisher of TriStar Daily.
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