NASHVILLE — With former White House political adviser Karl Rove as the keynote speaker, the Tennessee Republican Party for the first time in recent memory is barring news media from covering its annual GOP’s Statesmen of the Year fundraiser.

State GOP Communications Director Bill Hobbs initially told The Associated Press that the “Statesmen's Dinner,” scheduled Saturday, will be a “closed-ticketed event and historically has not been open to the media.”

But faced with recollections by past state GOP chairmen and assertions by Capitol Hill reporters that the dinner portion and keynote speech of the event traditionally have been open, Mr. Hobbs and current GOP Chairwoman Robin Smith partially backed off the claim.

Mrs. Smith, who is from Hixson, said in an e-mail statement that the entire event will remain closed.

“Because of the timeline we are working with and requests that have been made, the dinner will be closed to press,” Mrs. Smith said.

Mr. Hobbs declined comment when asked directly about reports in GOP circles that the state GOP was banning reporters at Mr. Rove’s request.

Keynote speakers who have been covered by Tennessee news media in the past have ranged from then-Texas Gov. George W. Bush in 1997 to then-GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney last year.

Tennessee Democrats stressed that their annual event remains open and sought to ridicule Mr. Rove and the state GOP.

“After closing their annual fundraiser featuring former White House adviser Karl Rove this Saturday, Tennesseans are left to wonder what new dance steps Karl Rove will break out this weekend,” Democrats said in a news release.

“Are they more afraid of Tennesseans seeing Karl Rove rap or of seeing him with his arms around (U.S. Sen.) Lamar Alexander?” said state Democratic Party Chairman Gray Sasser, who contended Mr. Rove’s political “shenanigans cost Republicans their majorities in the House and Senate in 2006.”

The dance reference was an allusion to Mr. Rove’s good-natured performance of a rap music routine at last year’s Radio and Television Correspondents' Association dinner in Washington, D.C.

Sen. Alexander spokesman Lee Pitts said the senator will be unable to attend the dinner Saturday because he will be managing a Senate debate on energy.

“If it was his decision, the event would not be closed, but it’s not his decision,” Mr. Pitts said in an e-mail.

State Rep. Beth Harwell, R-Nashville, who served as state GOP chairwoman from 2004 to 2007, said that “it’s every chairman’s prerogative whether they want to have an open event or closed event. I chose to have our’s open.”

“Actually, we encouraged it (reporters’ coverage) because we wanted to get our message out,” Rep. Harwell said.

While Rep. Harwell said she would prefer this year’s “be opened to the press,” she emphasized she didn’t know the reasoning behind Mrs. Smith’s decision.

Former GOP Chairmen John “Chip” Saltsman and Bob Davis recalled having their Statesmen events opened, but they emphasized the decision is up to the chairman.

In her e-mail statement, Mrs. Smith said that Mr. Hobbs “was acting on information he had been given in making the statement that ‘traditionally’ the dinner had been closed. It was said that ‘traditionally fundraisers are closed.’ The Statesmen's Dinner is a fundraiser.

“Bill remains correct on the information that he was given that ‘traditionally fundraisers are closed,’” Mrs. Smith continued.

Rep. Harwell, Mr. Saltsman and Mr. Davis all noted that events for large donors, which take place before the dinner, often have been closed.

Tickets for this year’s dinner range from $200 to $500 per person. Earlier in the evening, there is a $5,000-per-couple “Chairman’s Circle” with Mr. Rove that includes “priority seating.”

Earlier Thursday, The New York Times reported that Mr. Rove is denying he was involved with the U.S. Justice Department’s bribery prosecution of former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman, a Democrat.

Mr. Rove has defied a House Democratic subpoena but responded to House Republicans’ questions on the issue and said he had not contacted Justice officials, the newspaper reported.

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