Figures from first gubernatorial campaign disclosures: Boyd, Lee and Dean tops in fundraising

Snapshot of gubernatorial candidate campaign finance disclosures filed Monday with the Registry of Election Finance, starting with Republicans in alphabetical order:

Sen. Mae Beavers – collected $56,721, spent $1,377; balance $55,343. (collection total includes $20,000 transfer from her state Senate campaign fund; does not include $4,760 in-kind contribution.)

Randy Boyd – collected $4,328,468, spent $819,236; balance $3,509,228 (collection total includes direct donations of $2,034,468 by Boyd himself, including in-kind contribution).

Bill Lee – collected $1,391,511, loaned his campaign $1,375,000 and made a $30,000 in-kind contribution to his campaign (renting a bus) for self-funded total of $1,405,000. Spent $223,187; balance $2,527,623.

House Speaker Beth Harwell, who waited until Sunday to announce as a candidate, did not have to file a gubernatorial campaign disclosure because she began after July 1 – though she filed paperwork to start  an account as of Monday. Harwell still has her 2016 House campaign account open (Boyd and Lee were both donors) and reported a $826,298 balance there in January, though the Registry has no updated report online yet. She also opened a 2018 House account earlier this year and reported a $47,992 balance as of July 1 there. Both of those funds can be transferred directly to a gubernatorial campaign. The speaker also maintains a leadership PAC that reported a balance of $786,696 as of July 1. Only $11,800 of the PAC money can be sent directly to her gubernatorial campaign, but some of the funds may be spent indirectly to otherwise benefit her candidacy.

U.S. Rep. Diane Black, who has been considering a run for governor, has not announced and has not set up a gubernatorial account. Funds in her congressional campaign account cannot be used directly in a state governor’s race.

On the Democratic side, former Nashville Mayor Karl Deal reported collecting $1,211,194, spent $217,802 with a balance of $992,892. No loans, but he did have a $36,000 in-kind contribution (paying for a poll himself) and donated $7,000 to his campaign.

House Minority Leader Craig Fitzhugh, D-Ripley, is considering a run for the Democratic nomination, but hasn’t announced and has no gubernatorial campaign. His state House campaign account reported a July 1 balance of $12,076 after spending $13,144 over the past six months. His leadership PAC had a balance of $3,030 after spending $500.