Club for Growth ad bashes ‘the Fincher who taxed Christmas’
Club for Growth, which is backing U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn for the Republican nomination to a U.S. Senate seat, bashed her primary opponent, former U.S. Rep. Stephen Fincher, as “the Fincher who taxed Christmas” in this digital ad. It’s produced by CFG Tennessee, a PAC recently set up as a Club affiliate to support Tennessee candidates for federal office.
Text of the ad’s narrator:
The Christmas Tree! The symbol of the Season! The target of the taxman?
Yes, boys and girls, in 2013 President Obama proposed a tax on Christmas trees.
And do you know who backed the Obama Christmas tree tax?
Congressman Stephen Fincher, that’s who.
True! Your old Congressman is . . . the Fincher Who Taxed Christmas.
Tell Stephen Fincher higher taxes are naughty, not nice.
Trump staffer becomes manager of Stephen Fincher’s U.S. Senate campaign
Thomas Midanek, formerly the White House southeast regional political director, has left the Trump administration and joined former Tennessee Rep. Stephen Fincher’s Senate campaign as campaign manager, reports Politico.
A source familiar with Midanek’s thinking said he left the White House because he “wanted to get back into the campaign world.” Midanek confirmed the new job but declined to comment further.
Fincher, who lists the Crockett County community of Frog Jump as his home town, is one of six declared candidates for the Republican nomination to succeed Sen. Bob Corker – the most formidable being U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn. The others are Larry Crim, Steven Hughes, Aaron Pettigrew and Rolando Toyos.
James Mackler is the only announced candidate for the Democratic nomination, though former Gov. Phil Bredesen has been thinking about it for a while.
Blackburn finds Roy Moore allegations ‘extremely disturbing;’ Fincher non-committal
As top Republicans nationally call for Roy Moore to end his Alabama U.S. Senate run amid allegations of sexual misconduct, the two Republicans competing for a Senate nomination in neighboring Tennessee — U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn and former Rep. Stephen Fincher – have finally issued statements on the matter, reports The Tennessean.
And the Nashville Post reports that state Sen. Mark Green, running to succeed U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn in Tennessee’s 7th Congressional District, is still silent on Moore – though he has deleted from social media accounts some past mentions of support for the former Alabama judge.
From The Tennessean:
“These allegations are extremely disturbing and if true I cannot support his candidacy for the United States Senate, but it’s up to the people of Alabama to ultimately decide,” Blackburn said in a statement.
Fincher did not address the allegations.
“That’s up to Alabama voters,” Fincher said of Moore’s candidacy. “I’m focused on Tennessee. The problems in this country are enormous. The debt. The deficit. The swamp. I’m going to run on what’s right and best for Tennessee and Tennesseans. Those are the things that I can do something about and that’s what we are going to fight for.”
… Democratic Senate candidate James Mackler has been on the offensive since the Moore controversy erupted on Nov. 9, arguing that Blackburn has been “silent on fellow Breitbart-endorsed candidate Roy Moore.” Mackler has called on Blackburn to denounce his candidacy.
“Roy Moore is not fit to serve in the U.S. Senate and Congresswoman Blackburn should say so,” Mackler has said.
From The Post:
Green, a onetime gubernatorial candidate and President Donald Trump’s pick for Secretary of the Army, attended a rally for Moore in September and tweeted “Proud to call him a friend!” after Moore’s primary victory over incumbent Luther Strange. Both the tweet and a Facebook post showing the two meeting in Alabama have been deleted. In another deleted tweet, Green said, “Fantastic event in Mobile, AL with Judge soon to be US Senator Roy Moore!”
Green and his wife, Camilla, donated a combined $5,400 to Moore’s campaign in September, according to Federal Election Commission filings.
Multiple phone calls, emails and texts to both Green and his campaign staff asking about his support for Moore have not been returned.
… Other Tennessee politicians supporting Moore have not deleted their posts. Republican gubernatorial candidate Mae Beavers, who tweeted an enthusiastic congratulations to Moore after his primary victory, did not respond to an email seeking comment. Former state Rep. Joe Carr, now running for a seat in the state Senate, also attended a rally for Moore in September. He did not immediately respond to a voicemail seeking comment.
Fincher ends ‘listening tour,’ starts run for Senate
After a 10-day “listening tour” of the state, former Congressman Stephen Fincher has announced that he is a candidate for the Republican U.S. Senate nomination. He did so in an interview with The Tennessean that was also published Sunday in other Gannett-owned newspapers around the state.
Fincher, who represented Tennessee’s 8th Congressional District from 2011 to 2017, cast himself as a “citizen legislator” as opposed to a “career politician” — a term aimed at U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn of Brentwood, who is also seeking the GOP nomination to the seat being vacated by Sen. Bob Corker.
Fincher already contrasting himself with Blackburn
Stephen Fincher hasn’t yet declared his candidacy for the U.S. Senate, but the Associated Press reports he is drawing a stark contrast between himself and Rep. Marsha Blackburn, who launched her campaign for the Republican nomination within an hour of Gov. Bill Haslam’s announcement that he isn’t running.
Statewide Fincher listening tour precedes decision on U.S. Senate run
News release from Stephen Fincher
FROG JUMP, Tenn. – Listening to voters before launching a possible bid for the U.S. Senate seat held by retiring Senator Bob Corker, Stephen Fincher will travel the state from Mountain City to Memphis to hear what voters want in their next U.S. Senator.
Fincher will begin the tour in Mountain City on Monday and travel to multiple counties a day meeting with small groups of Tennesseans. The tour will work westward and conclude in Memphis in the coming weeks.
