4 former lawmakers among 6 finalists to lead ethics and campaign finance panel

The Bureau of Ethics and Campaign Finance has whittled down the applications to succeed retiring Executive Director Drew Rawlins from 43 to six. The finalists include four former lawmakers, a former judge, and a current staffer.

The finalists are scheduled to be interviewed over the course of three weeks starting on July 8. Here’s who made the cut:

• Former Rep. Jerome Cochran, a Republican who lost to former House Speaker Kent Williams (I-Elizabethton) three times in as as many election cycles. Cochran is now an administrative law judge.
• Former Rep. Mark Goins, a Republican who ran twice for the Senate — losing to former Democratic Sen. Tommy Kilby (D-Wartburg) — after being drawn out of his House seat in redistricting. Goins is the state election coordinator under Secretary of State Tre Hargett.
• Former Rep. Judd Matheny, who came in third in a bid for the Republican nomination in his bid for 6th Congressional District seat last year.
• Former Rep. Kim McMillan, the former House Democratic leader who lost her re-election bid as Clarksville mayor to former Rep. Joe Pitts.
• Jay Moeck, the current audit director of the bureau.
• Former Nashville Chancellor Bill Young, a onetime counsel for Blue Cross General Counsel and twice a top attorney for the state Attorney General’s Office.

The selection will be made by the members of the Ethics Commission and the Registry of Election Finance. Both panels are evenly divided along party lines. As the only Democratic finalist, McMillan appears to have an advantage if the Republicans split the vote. Of course, Republicans could coalesce behind a single finalist, at which point there could be an impasse.