Failure to properly register with the state cost two groups that launched attack ads against state Rep. Michele Reneau last year more than twice what they initially offered to pay as a penalty.
The state’s campaign oversight body, the Tennessee Registry of Election Finance, settled a complaint filed last year by Reneau, R-Hixson, at a meeting this month. Board members accepted an offer for $6,000 from the subject of the complaint. The registry did not accept the initial offer of $2,500.
“I support whatever the commission decides and am grateful for the effort to bring accountability and transparency,” Reneau told the Chattanooga Times Free Press in a text message.
Reneau filed the complaint over a multimedia attack launched against her during the 2024 primary.
The groups behind the multimedia attack, Citizen Engagement Forum and Civic Engagement Forum, were not registered as political campaign committees. That’s a violation of the state’s election and finance rules, according to a Tennessee attorney general’s report.