NASHVILLE — Republican Jim Vincent, of Soddy-Daisy, lent his campaign $25,000 in April to kick-start his state House District 31 comeback bid against Rep. Jim Cobb, R-Spring City, according to newly filed campaign financial disclosure reports.

Between April 1 and June 30, Mr. Vincent reported raising $33,430.04 — $25,000 of it from the personal loan and another $8,430.04 in contributions. He spent $30,729.74 and, as of June 30, had $2,700.30 on hand.

The deadline for second-quarter reports was Thursday.

Mr. Vincent was elected in 2001 but chose in 2004 not to seek re-election to the district, which includes part of northern Hamilton County and all of Rhea County.

The former lawmaker said Thursday he put his own money into the race to get his campaign moving quickly. He said he has raised more funds since late June. But he noted that, in a contested GOP primary, “nobody wants an enemy, so everyone wants to see who wins the primary, and I’m not pushing people” to give.”

“To be real honest with you, I’m not real good asking for money,” the businessman said.

According to financial disclosure forms, Rep. Cobb, who is seeking a second term, reported raising $5,300 in the second quarter, all of it in late May or June after the General Assembly adjourned and the state’s annual ban on in-session fundraising by incumbents ended.

Having carried a substantial balance into the second quarter, Rep. Cobb reported spending $15,523.39. His ending balance was $992.96.

In his first campaign in 2006, Mr. Cobb made thousands of dollars of personal loans and took out thousands more in bank loans to fund his campaign. Last year, he repaid himself and the banks, a report filed earlier this year shows.

The lawmaker said he remains “very comfortable with what I’ve done” on fundraising so far this year. He said he believes he will have enough contributors to finish out the campaign and not resort to loans.

Among those contributing to Rep. Cobb was Rep. Gerald McCormick, R-Chattanooga, chairman of the Hamilton County legislative delegation, who gave $100. Rep. McCormick said it was an acknowledgment of a $100 contribution Rep. Cobb made to his own campaign last year.

“After I did that — I’m trying to remain neutral in the race — I also wrote a check to Jim Vincent for a hundred bucks,” Rep. McCormick said.

Mr. Vincent repeatedly has sought to take Rep. Cobb to task for voting against a 2007 overhaul of the state’s Basic Education Program funding formula. The changes benefited Hamilton County, but Rep. Cobb maintains it hurt Rhea County, where he lives.

Calling it “kind of funny,” Rep. Cobb said he told Mr. Vincent at a recent debate that “you gave me a thousand dollars, and now you’re campaigning against me on this BEP thing. He said, ‘You voted for the BEP after I gave you the $1,000.’”

But Rep. Cobb said the Vincent contribution came after the May 2007 BEP vote. A year-end 2007 report filed by Rep. Cobb on Feb. 12, 2008, states the Vincent contribution was made Sept. 18, 2007.

Asked about the issue Thursday, Mr. Vincent said, “It was 2006, wasn’t it?”

Informed that his contribution to Rep. Cobb was after the BEP vote, Mr. Vincent recalled Rep. Cobb calling him about “trying to clean up his campaign debt, and I tried to help him. I don’t think he represented our district very well.”

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