Green adds $200K in new self-funding to build fat money lead over competing Democrats

Though without opposition in the 7^th Congressional District Republican primary, state Sen. Mark Green loaned his campaign another $200,000 in the first quarter of 2018 – making a total of $500,000 in self-funding so far — and collected $267,949 in contributions, according to a report filed with the Federal Election Commission.

Green reported spending about $280,000 in the first quarter and a cash-on-hand balance of $769,334 on March 31.

There is a Democratic primary in the reliably Republican district, where Rep. Marsha Blackburn is giving up the seat to run for the U.S. Senate. In the underdog party primary, Justin Kanew, a film writer and producer, has the financial lead over Matthew Reel, who is currently serving as a U.S. Army Green Beret and thus cannot actively campaign until his enlistment ends in June.

Kanew reported first quarter receipts of $54,012, spending of $31,528 and a cash-on-hand balance of $126,913. Reel reported receiving $64,944 in contributions in the quarter, spending of $21,360 and a balance of $78,004.