With under a month to go until the May primary election, the 22 candidates vying for seven seats on the Hamilton County Board of Education have collectively raised more than $50,000 in the state's first-ever partisan school board election.
As of April 11, the 1st Quarter filing deadline, the Democrats, who represent less than half the total candidate pool, had so far outpaced their Republican counterparts in campaign contributions - $27,776 to $23,797.
Uncontested Democrat Jill Black, running for District 11, raked in just under $15,000, the highest amount raised by any school board candidate so far. Donors include District 4 school board member Tiffanie Robinson; civic leaders and philanthropists Olan Mills II, P.K. Brock, Paul Brock and Susan Brock; D.C. Montague; Shelby Montague; and attorney Ward Nelson.
Uncontested Democrat Ben Connor, running for District 6, was the second-highest fundraiser with about $11,000 in contributions. Connor Consulting LLC, a hospitality consulting business where Connor is president, donated $3,200 to his campaign. By law, LLCs can contribute $1,600 to candidates each election, or $3,200 per election cycle.
According to state records, the company was formed in August 2021 and donated to Connor's campaign in December. Individuals may, under federal law, contribute any amount of money to their own campaign. Attempts to reach Connor for comment were unsuccessful.
Republican Gary Kuehn, running for the District 9 seat, raised just under $8,000. Contributors included Paul Brock II, Olan Mills II, Pat Brock and entrepreneur Steven Culp.
Other notable contributions:
District 3 (Uncontested)
Republican incumbent Joe Smith raised $2,345. Contributors include Hamilton County Circuit Court Clerk Larry Henry, school board member Tucker McClendon, Campaign for Sheriff Jim Hammond, Juvenile Court Clerk Gary Behler, former 3rd District U.S. Rep. Zach Wamp, City Judge Russell Bean and former Chattanooga City Council member Manuel Rico.
District 5 (Uncontested)
Democratic incumbent Karitsa Mosley Jones reported a balance on hand of $1,811.
District 6
Republican Delores Gross Vinson raised $1,703.
Republican Jon Baker raised $2,208.
District 10
Republican Roddey Coe raised $5,096. Contributors included Committee to Elect [state Rep.] Esther Helton and state Rep. Greg Vital.
Republican Faye Robinson raised $2,750.
District 11
Republican Virginia Anne Manson raised $1,500 with contributions from Beth and Ryan Crimmins and Michael Doubleday.
Candidates Jenn Piroth (Democrat, District 3), Sandy Norris Smith (Democrat, District 8), Katie Perkins (Democrat, District 8), James Walker (Republican incumbent, District 9), Patrick Lee (Republican, District 10), Jeff Crim (uncontested Democrat, District 10) and Christine Essex (independent, District 10) have not yet filed reports. The deadline to do so is April 26.
Candidates Charles Paty (Republican, District 5), Cindy Fain (Republican, District 6), Larry Grohn (Republican, District 8), Tate Smith (Republican, District 9) and Steve McKinney (independent, District 11) raised less than $1,000.
Contact Carmen Nesbitt at cnesbitt@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6327. Follow her on Twitter @carmen_nesbitt.