BRISTOL, Tenn. – U.S. Rep. David Davis is one of only a few congressmen in the nation to be bested at fundraising by a primary challenger during any single reporting period, according to the Federal Election Commission.
Davis, R-1st, raised $107,194.54 in total contributions for the period ending June 30, the end of the last full quarter. For the same period, Republican challenger Phil Roe reported $118,723.72 in contributions.
“I can guarantee you, there’s not many challengers topping contributions to incumbent congressmen, so that shows we’re making a run,” Roe said Tuesday. “We’ve also been really happy with contributions in July.”
Overall, the Davis campaign has raked in a total of at least $400,000 more than Roe, the current Johnson City mayor. Still, Roe remains optimistic that his “People Not Politics” campaign slogan will be realized when folks head to the polls Thursday to vote in the Republican primary.
“I feel great about my chances, and I’ve been out there pounding the pavement,” Roe said. “Several months ago, he [Davis] wouldn’t even call me by my name – he would say, ‘my opponent.’ Now, on television and radio he calls me by my name.”
Davis declined to comment about specifics of his campaign.
The GOP primary race has heated up recently, and Davis has been criticized for securing federal budget earmarks for corporate campaign contributors and for accepting campaign money from large oil corporations, such as Exxon-Mobil.
Davis has had the upper hand throughout the race when it comes to money raised. He also has outspent Roe by more than a 3-1 margin.
A little less than half of Davis’ total campaign contributions have come from political action committees – almost $267,000 as of July 18.
On the other hand, Roe, as promised, has not accepted one penny of PAC money, and individual contributions make up nearly 94 percent of all money raised.
Meanwhile, with only days remaining until the primary, Roe said his campaign is turning away from using mail-outs and flyers and are focusing more toward newspaper advertising and TV.
The Herald Courier on Wednesday contacted Ryan Tronovitch, Davis’ communications director, to invite the congressman to personally contact the newspaper for comment on campaign contributions, advertising strategies and a general overview of his quest for a second term.
Tronovitch returned an e-mail which read, “Thanks for contacting Congressman David Davis.”
Tronovitch included the FEC Web site address and added, “Here’s what Congressman Davis had to say,” followed by this statement: “I am optimistic about the outcome of this election and I plan on continuing to represent the interests of the voters in East Tennessee.”
The Herald Courier ran candidate profiles last week of each person vying for Davis’ seat. Davis did not accept repeated invitations to speak with a reporter for his profile.
In addition, the Herald Courier sent the freshman congressman a candidate questionnaire several times. He was the only candidate, Democrat or Republican, who did not return the questionnaire.
The responses included substantial personal information and candidate answers to specific political issues. The responses were posted online at TriCities.com for public viewing.
ggray@bristolnews.com | (276) 645-2512
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