Jimmy Haslam is seen in this file photo.Donor ListThe top 10, after Andrew Miller Jr., are:• Willis Johnson, of Franklin, an executive of Copart Inc., an automobile salvage company, $266,000• Sarah Faulkner, of Lookout Mountain, $222,189• William Freeman, who operates a real estate and property management firm in Nashville, $211,365• Jimmy Haslam, $176,550• Allan Jones, of Cleveland, founder of a payday loan company, $173,710• Jim Haslam, $159,450• Joey A. Jacobs, of Brentwood, an Acadia Healthcare executive, $153,616• Olan Mills II, of Chattanooga, who founded a chain of photography studios, $150,600• J. Blair Wilson, of Nashville, employed by Dapco Investments, $149,498
NASHVILLE – A nationwide analysis of contributions to political causes indicates that the Haslams are the leading family of “elite donors” in Tennessee.
The Sunlight Foundation last week released a list of the “1 percent of 1 percent” — 31,385 people nationwide who represent just 0.01 percent of the nation’s population but who made 28 percent of all political contributions involving campaigns for president and congressional offices in 2012.
In Tennessee, 430 individuals made the list, contributing almost $17.3 million as a group. Three are from Chattanooga and Southeast Tennessee.
Eight of the “elite political donors” in Tennessee are members of the Haslam family, including patriarch James “Jim” Haslam II, who founded Pilot Corp. as a young man. He and his son, James III or “Jimmy,” made the top 10 for Tennessee.