Harshbarger campaign receiving mostly out-of-state donations

NASHVILLE — Federal campaign finance data shows that, of donations to the reelection campaign for U.S. Rep. Diana Harshbarger, R-Tenn., only about a third were from addresses listed in Tennessee. Based on first quarter campaign finance reports, 14% of Harshbarger's donations came from Texas, while 7% came from Washington, D.C. and 6% came from New York. Compared to the average congressmember, that's a low percentage of in-state donors. OpenSecrets, a nonpartisan campaign finance tracking organization, reports the median percentage of in-state donors among House incumbents was 58% from 2023 to 2024. In total, Harshbarger has raised $1.1 million this election cycle. Forty-percent of her donations came from individuals, while the rest ($674,000) was donations from PACs, organizations and other committees. As of the end of June, Harshbarger reported having $2 million in her campaign account. Her campaign owes about $1.5 million in loans — some of the highest among any member of congress. The incumbent Harshbarger faces no competition in the Republican primary for Tennessee's First Congressional District. She will face her first opponent in the general election in November. Democrat fundraising Kristi Burke has emerged as the fundraising leader among candidates for Democratic nomination for TN-1. Burke has raised $92,000 this year, outpacing the two other Democratic candidates by a mile. Her competition includes David Kerr Jr. and Herman Garcia, two former military men. Kerr reports raising just over $2,300 this year, while no campaign finance disclosures are available on the Federal Election Commission website for Herman Garcia. The fundraising is impressive given Burke is running as a Democrat in a district that has elected only Republicans since 1881. Of the $92,000 Burke raised, about 70% is listed as unitemized donations — contributions of $200 or less where donors' names, addresses and other personally-identifying information of donors do not have to be disclosed. ACTBLUE, a Democratic Party PAC, gave $10,600 to Burke's campaign, representing about 40% of her total itemized receipts. The reports show contributions from ACTBLUE occurring at the same level and date of donations coming from individual donors, implying that ACTBLUE matched the majority of itemized donations to Burke's campaign.