Weston Wamp and Chuck Fleischmann
Jim Tracy and Scott DesJarlaisNASHVILLE – U.S. Rep. Chuck Fleischmann, R-Tenn., and his GOP primary challenger Weston Wamp whipped out their campaign wallets and collectively spent more than three-quarters of a million dollars during the first part of July as the two men’s bitter rivalry headed into early voting.
Fleischmann outspent Wamp $416,861 to $362,954 as the two candidates paid for television and radio ads, direct mail and other expenses from July 1 through July 18, according to disclosures filed over the weekend with the Federal Election Commission.
That’s $779,815 collectively.
The reports show two-term incumbent Fleischmann paid a media ad placement firm $348,000 – with a $109,000 chunk of it July 1, another $20,000 on July 10, $109,000 more on July 16 and $110,000 on July 18.
Wamp, who lost to Fleischmann in the multicandidate 2012 primary, also spent big on advertising with $322,468. He dropped $196,511 of that July 14 and another $125,957 on July 17.