NASHVILLE -- Outside groups, some with murky sources of funding, have dumped about $2.43 million into Tennessee's 4th and 8th Congressional District contests, figures show.
Those races could prove critical in determining which party controls the U.S. House.
The National Republican Congressional Committee, a political group devoted to boosting House Republican membership, as well as GOP allies such as Americans for Tax Reform and the 60 Plus Association, have dominated independent expenditures in Tennessee, according to filings with the Federal Election Commission.
Disclosures show the National Republican Congressional Committee and these groups have shelled out $2.09 million, or 86 percent, of the independent expenditures in the 4th and 8th Congressional Districts.
Meanwhile, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, the official campaign arm of House Democrats, and the Tennessee Democratic Party accounted for $339,000 in independent expenditures.
Paul Blumenthal with the Sunlight Foundation, a nonpartisan campaign finance watchdog based in Washington, D.C., draws a distinction between traditional party organizations and many of the other outside groups.
Party groups -- such as the Republican and Democratic committees -- must disclose donors and cannot receive unlimited contributions, he said, giving the public an opportunity to learn who funds them. But the other groups do not have to disclose their contributors, he said.
"There's no accountability for the people who are contributing," Blumenthal said. "[Contributors] don't get asked any questions about why they're contributing."
CAMPAIGN SLUGFEST
In the 4th District, the race between incumbent U.S. Rep. Lincoln Davis, D-Tenn., and Republican challenger Scott DesJarlais, a Jasper physician, has turned into a brutal slugfest. The 4th District, which lies in parts of East and Middle Tennessee, includes Bledsoe, Grundy, Franklin, Marion and Sequatchie counties, among others.
DesJarlais' own campaign has spent nearly $639,000 this campaign cycle compared to about $943,500 for Davis, according to Federal Election Commission forms.
But the National Republican Congressional Committee and Americans for Tax Reform as well as another group, Americans for Limited Government, have outspent the DesJarlais' campaign with $823,000 in ads and direct mailings that attack Davis, according to Election Commission and Sunlight Foundation data.
Of that total, the National Republican Congressional Committee has spent $326,152 attacking Davis.
The groups all charge that Davis, of Pall Mall, is not the independent conservative he says he is.
Grover Norquist is president of Americans for Tax Reform, a group created in the 1980s to fight tax increases. The group has long supported Republican causes and has spent $476,180 assailing Davis.
Norquist maintains that U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., gives Davis "a pass" on controversial issues when his vote is not need. But Norquist maintained that "when Nancy Pelosi wants him to vote for bigger government, he has always been there when he was needed."
CAMPAIGN EXPENDITURES * Total spending in Tennessee: $2.43 millionRepublican party organizations/allied groups: $2,097,021Democrat party organizations: $338,990* 4th Congressional DistrictRepublican party organizations/allied groups: $822,990Democratic party organizations: $338,990* By group and districtNational Republican Congressional Committee (discloses contributors)4th Congressional District: $326,1528th Congressional District: $766,188* Americans for Tax Reform (supports Republicans, doesn't disclose contributors)4th Congressional District: $476,180* 60 Plus Association (supports Republicans, doesn't disclose contributors)8th Congressional District: $407,843* Americans for Limited Government (supports Republicans, doesn't disclose contributors)4th Congressional District: $20,658Source: Federal Election Commission Reports; Sunlight Foundation
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee spent $286,000 on TV ads slamming DesJarlais, seeking to raise questions about DesJarlais' character based on court filings from his 2001 divorce.
The state Democratic Party spent about $53,000 supporting Davis with direct mail, filings show.
Total independent expenditures by Republican and Democratic groups in the 4th District add up to $1.16 million.
In the 8th Congressional District, which lies in Middle and West Tennessee, the National Republican Congressional Committee, 60 Plus and Conservatives for Truth have spent nearly $1.3 million on ads, most of which attack Democrat Roy Herron, of Dresden, who faces Republican Stephen Fincher, of Frog Jump.
National Democrats now have walked away from the 8th District, once considered a toss-up, having spent nothing, records show.
Vanderbilt University political science professor Bruce Oppenheimer said it remains to be seen whether the outside groups can turn the elections.
"We don't know," he said.
John Rowley, a media consultant for Davis' campaign, sharply criticized the spending by the GOP's nonparty allies.
"The special-interest money bomb has hit Tennessee," he said. "None of it is about promoting anything positive ... Some of it's deceptive and some of it's total lies."
DesJarlais campaign manager Brent Leatherwood countered that "of course Davis would attack groups fighting for America's conservative values ... Clearly, this man is anything but the independent conservative he claims to be. I'm just glad Tennesseans are finally getting to see his true liberal colors."