Danielle Walker hands out "Vote No on 1" stickers before a Hamilton County Commission meeting Wednesdayat the Hamilton County Courthouse . The commission voted to pass a resolution in support of Tennessee Amendment 1, an amendment on the statewide ballot in November that deals with abortion.
Amendment 1 signsNASHVILLE - Opponents of the proposed Tennessee constitutional amendment on abortion have outspent supporters this month by a nearly than 3 1/2-to-1 margin, according to new disclosures.
From Oct. 1 through Oct. 25, the Vote No on One organization unleashed $3.43 million in spending with some $1.95 million alone appearing to be targeted for television advertising, according to the group's disclosure with the Tennessee Registry of Election Finance.
The Yes on 1 group, meanwhile, spent $1.04 million in their battle to strip the Tennessee Constitution of abortion protections, created in a 2000 state Supreme Court ruling, and give the state Legislature new powers to enact restrictions on abortion.
Meanwhile, the Vote No on One committee reported more than $2 million in contributions in the latest disclosure period. Most of the money came from Planned Parenthood organizations from Tennessee, Florida, California, Massachuesetts with a Washington state group alone giving $750,000.
The Vote Yes on 1 committee raised $670,825 with the largest single donor being John Gregory of Bristol, a social conservative whose family once owned a pharmaceutical company, giving $150,000.
Glenn Morris Jr. of Chattanooga, CEO of industrial-container manufacturer M&M Industries, and John Zeiser of Signal Mountain, president of Southern Champion Tray, a paperboard packaging manufacturer, each gave $10,000 to the Vote Yes on 1 effort.
A Middle Tennessee State University poll released this week shows found 39 percent of registered voters backed the Amendment 1 while 32 percent opposed it. But the decision makers will be the 15 percent were undecided while 14 percent either didn't plan to vote on the amendment or wouldn't say. The poll's margin was plus or minus 4 percent.
Read more in tomorrow's Times Free Press.