Terry Frank
Warren Gooch
Warren Gooch, the Democratic candidate for Anderson County mayor, raised more than four times as much in campaign contributions as his Republican opponent, Terry Frank, in the three-month reporting period that ended June 30.
Gooch, an Oak Ridge attorney, reported total contributions of $64,680, while Frank, a Clinton business owner, reported $15,193.
If a $6,479 loan from Frank to her campaign is included, Frank’s total receipts were $21,672, about one-third of Gooch’s.
Gooch also spent about four times as much as Frank—or $60,147 in total disbursements, compared to $14,070 for Frank, the campaign finance reports said.
In his 77-page report, Gooch reported he received 233 donations of more than $100 each. Those donations are called itemized contributions.
In her 17-page report, Frank reported 31 itemized contributions.
Gooch’s donors included executives, attorneys, Democratic Party leaders, and business owners in Oak Ridge, Clinton, Norris, Andersonville, Knoxville, and Nashville, and elected officials in Anderson County and Oak Ridge.
Frank’s donors included elected Tennessee and Anderson County officials and business executives and owners, health care professionals, and retirees in Oak Ridge, Clinton, Knoxville, Lenoir City, and Powell.
Gooch’s top contributors this election include Knoxville attorney J. Michael Winchester; self-employed corporate director R. Brad Martin of Memphis; Charles K. Slatery, owner of NFC Investments LLC in Memphis; Michael McWherter, owner of Central Distributors of Jackson; and W.T. Phillips Sr. of Knoxville, owner of Phillips and Jordan. They have all donated $1,400.
Others who contributed at least $1,000 to Gooch include Asbestos Workers PAC of Lanham, Md.; Jacqueline V. Whitside, president of MPi in Knoxville; Knoxville retiree Lorenzo Trimble; Knoxville retiree David Martin; Lambert Auto Parts LLC of Powell; Clinton retiree Patsy A. Meredith; and Marvin Hammond, Knoxville president emeritus of the Hallsdale-Powell Utility District.
Frank’s top donors this election include Stacey Campfield of Knoxville, who has contributed $2,800; Denny Phillips of Clinton, a cook who has donated $2,000; and “all-around awesome mom” Anne Phillips of Clinton, who has donated $1,400.
Others who have contributed at least $1,000 to Frank include Alan Parker, president of Energy Solutions in Oak Ridge, and physician Tadhg Hart and retiree Patricia Hart of Clinton.
Gooch’s top expenditures were $31,796 to TeamBlue Politics Inc. of Washington, D.C., for consulting, payroll, and cable television advertising; $8,920 to The Lamar Companies of Knoxville for advertising and artwork; $7,769 to Signs Unlimited of Clinton for signs; $2,668 to himself for T-shirts, door hangers, and cards; and $2,600 to Public Policy Polling of Raleigh, N.C., for polling.
Frank’s top expenditures were $2,378 to Victory Store of Davenport, Iowa, for signs; $1,886 to Comcast of Chattanooga for advertising; and $942 to Jerry Kelly of Knoxville for print and campaign materials.
Her total disbursements also included a $4,758 loan repayment.
Gooch also reported in-kind contributions of $18,706, including $11,500 from himself for media production; $1,400 each from Clinton retiree Alline McConkey and dentist William Salmons for food and beverages; and $1,153 for invitations and catering from the Atomic Trades and Labor Council of Oak Ridge.
Frank reported a $2,000 in-kind contribution from Robert Shagan of Knoxville for office space.
Gooch reported a balance of $30,088, including $25,554 remaining from the last reporting period. He had no outstanding loans.
Meanwhile, Frank reported a balance of $19,188 and outstanding loans of $12,907.
Tj says
Looks like big outside money is backing Gooch. Why? What do they expect in exchange?
We will NEVER have honest elections or honest politicians until a simple law is passed:
NO ONE can give a dime to anyone they can’t vote for. Why would a person give thousands of dollars to someone in another county?
This new law means that corporations, PACS, and political parties cannot give, since they can’t vote(unless they are in Chicago) :).
This would level the playing field so that many more, better qualified candidates would enter the races.
Alex says
Gooch also loaned himself $40,000
John Huotari says
Alex, Was that in an earlier reporting period?
Alex says
No, that was was on July 3.
Alex says
You are looking at his filing from July 1. He filed again yesterday.
John Huotari says
Okay. Thanks.
John Q Publius says
Since these numbers are itemized, Alex, is there any way to tabulate how much of Gooch’s money came from outside the county versus inside the county? Seems like it would provide and interesting insight into their respective areas of support.
Alex says
My numbers so far indicate that well over 60 % came from outside the county. Much of that appears to come from attorneys. There is also a good chunk that comes from DC lobbyists. I know that makes little sense in a county mayor’s race. I will try to have precise numbers sometime this weekend.
BFD12 says
I don’t know what calculator you are using, Alex, but I believe over 2/3 of Mr. Gooch’s contributions were from within the county. I believe Mrs. Frank also had a $33,000 loan, as long as we are putting the loan amounts out there.
Alex says
I know you are incorrect on where the total dollars of Warren Gooch’s money came from. But I’ll be sure to put them out very accurately.
Alex says
Final tally. 62% of his donations (excluding himself and his wife) came from outside Anderson County and Oak Ridge.
CK says
BFD12 Are you saying that over 20 K from OUTSIDE contributions to buy an election is OK with you? My calculator says you should VOTE here in order to donate here .What does your s say ?
BFD12 says
People from in and around East Tennessee know what an important job the mayor of Anderson County has. With DOE being a lifeline for most of the region, I think everyone has a right to support a candidate that wants to support DOE. Furthermore, I’m not sure why anyone would villainize someone for being a well connected individual with supporters from all over. I believe that shows great character and that’s the kind of person I want as my mayor.
Tj says
You want another liberal lawyer in office?
Seems like we have too many issuing executive orders already.
Lawyers are the antithesis of small business.
conservativelawyer says
Actually TJ, attorneys and lawfirms are the essence of small business. Small businesses wouldn’t function or thrive without the service of attorneys. You should stick to protesting change and growth and avoid leveling charges at sectors of the economy upon which you depend; actually, it kind of makes sense, since you seem to be good at railing against all things profitable and productive.
John Q Publius says
I disagree. Actually I see law firms as resembling the federal government. A small percentage of lawyers, as a group, actually provide sorely needed services, just as the federal gov’t. Every person deserves a criminal defense in order to preserve justice within the legal system. However, the vast majority of lawyers, again, like the federal gov’t, simply facilitate the transfer of wealth from one party to the other, all while taking a sizable chunk of the transfer in return for their efforts.
As for small businesses not functioning, the T.C.A. isn’t exactly high art. Anyone who knows how to read can figure out the law and there are any number of small business workshops where you can learn to stay “compliant.” That said, it is my opinion that a small businessman shouldn’t need an attorney unless he has acted recklessly. Of course, modern attorneys have turned recklessness into “failed to paint a yellow stripe on a step to make it more visible, hence my client can now continue to sponge off the industrious.”
Attorneys have turned personal responsibility on its head; now it means that if you dare venture into commerce you will responsible for everyone else in the country. Hey, that sounds a lot like Obama’s “you didn’t build that” speech. No wonder most attorneys are liberals.
Please don’t take this as a personal attack on you. I’m sure that you are a very wise and industrious individual. I simply agree with Justice Scalia when he said:
“Well, you know, two chiefs ago, Chief Justice Burger, used to complain about the low quality of counsel. I used to have just the opposite reaction. I used to be disappointed that so many of the best minds in the country were being devoted to this enterprise.
I mean there’d be a, you know, a defense or public defender from Podunk, you know, and this woman is really brilliant, you know. Why isn’t she out inventing the automobile or, you know, doing something productive for this society?
I mean lawyers, after all, don’t produce anything. They enable other people to produce and to go on with their lives efficiently and in an atmosphere of freedom. That’s important, but it doesn’t put food on the table and there have to be other people who are doing that. And I worry that we are devoting too many of our very best minds to this enterprise.
And they appear here in the Court, I mean, even the ones who will only argue here once and will never come again. I’m usually impressed with how good they are. Sometimes you get one who’s not so good. But, no, by and large I don’t have any complaint about the quality of counsel, except maybe we’re wasting some of our best minds.”
John Huotari says
I disagree with the statement that a “small businessman shouldn’t need an attorney unless he has acted recklessly.”
I’m a small business owner, and I’ve consulted with an attorney and it wasn’t related to reckless behavior. I can think of at least several reasons someone like me might consider using or consulting an attorney, including contract and copyright law and business incorporation. I’m sure I’ll think of other reasons as our business grows.
I think I have a decent basic understanding of the law, but I don’t think I would generally try to interpret TCA on my own. Even if I can read statutes, most of the time I would probably not be familiar with how the courts have interpreted the statutes.
John Q Publius says
John, the key word is “need.” It might be smart to consult an attorney, but not necessary. And, I know it isn’t necessary as there are many people who never do. Whether that is optimal is up for debate, but, as I stated, it is my opinion no one should ever “need” an attorney, unless they have acted recklessly.
The underlying motivation for my statement is that maybe, just maybe, we might be a tad over-regulated. As evidence I offer the Code of Federal Regulations. In 1970 the CFR totaled 54k pages. In 1998, 135k. Today, around 165k. I know that unabated regulatory bloat is good for lawyers, but maybe not so good for efficiency or competitiveness.
Lastly, the beauty of the TCA is that it is annotated. This means there is a section that will give you court holdings including the cite to the decisions that you can grab and read. But, I agree with you that a smart businessman seeks the advice of experts if he doesn’t know an answer to an important issue.
conservative lawyer says
Small businesses are not designed, started, and pursued to “produce” anything, other than a profit. Many of the most successful businesses produce only services that result, in most cases, in an improved bottom line. That is the 20th/21st century service/knowledge economy that Reagan and Clinton have created in this country. Pretending like a business has to produce something tangible to be a business is analogous to saying that doctors, lawyers, accountants, bankers, stockbrokers, architects, advertisers, etc, etc are not in business. A ludicrous concept, which seems to indicate a reasonably dim view of the current state of the US economy.
In regards to business owners (or anyone in general) consulting with a lawyer BEFORE they need one, whether or not someone needs a lawyer usually is a conversation that changes depending upon which side of a screw-up you sit on; before the screw-up = that expensive lawyer was a bad idea, after the screw-up = that expensive lawyer would have been a GREAT idea.
Additionally, in terms of your average run of the mill slip-and-fall/car accident case, bear in mind that society paints every case like a monstrous overreach of the law over an innocent defendant, UNTIL that is YOUR son or daughter who is permanently disfigured/injured/affected due to the negligence of a party.
Tj says
We call them “deal killers”in small business.
Ihave bought and sold 21 different small businesses. I have drawn up many short contracts all very legal, andsometimes had the other party” run it by his attorney”. One attorney actually came back with a 400 page version of our 2 page contract. Needless to say the buyer was sent away by me and had to pay this $4000 deal killer lawyer himself.
Of course my lawyer is the the only good, honest one in the state.
The system is rigged so that you must have a lawyer in court. I have seen lawyers so inept that i wouldn’ let them mow my yard. There are no more Perry Masons.
The UCC and TCA are simple to understand
Tj says
Conservative Lawyer- i have provided jobs for hundreds of people. I have paid more payroll taxes each month than your Mercedes cost. Lawyers don’t usually add anything to the pot, but take a cut out of each pot.
We really need you to fight all the unconstitutional laws being promulgated in the US.
Small business is being strangled by taxes, edicts, laws, regulations, executive orders, etc.
The thirteenth amendment spoke of Titles of Nobility, as Esquire.
Is the ABA a branch of the British Bar, thus the Esquire after many lawyer’s names?
Many believe the 13th was legally ratified by Virginia, thus not allowing lawyers to hold public office.
I
conservative lawyer says
While I am sure your “very legal” contracts had nothing to do with killing “the deal”, I am sure the other side was upset that you were unable or unwilling to read a likely overblown 400 pg contract which was apparently not worth your precious time to read or consider. And you don’t need a lawyer in court TJ– people represent themselves successfully all the time . I am sure you would do fine…
Tj says
John, for $200 hour to an attorney, you can get 95% of the legal knowledge you need online for almost nothing. Use something like PrePaid Legal and get the best of both worlds.
John Huotari says
I hadn’t heard of that service. I’ll check it out.
Tj says
CL–
The 400 page contract was an indicator of the lack of understanding of the industry of the buyer. I read it and it was 98% BS downloaded from a standard contract site.
My business was simple and mostly done by verbal phone contracts nationwide.
Selling it to a bean counter would have been a disaster.
BTW, i always run my short written agreements by my attorney, who always says they will do the job, even though he could add another ten pages of legal gobbly-gook.