Commercial Appeal - Leatherwood Talks Tough in Blackburn Stronghold Campaigning in a stronghold of his Republican primary opponent Tuesday, Shelby County Register Tom Leatherwood quickly faced the inevitable question: "I've been pleased with Marsha Blackburn. Why should I vote for you?" Minutes earlier, Leatherwood had raised the point himself, more gingerly -- telling the 50 Montgomery County Republican Women at their monthly luncheon that it's "nothing personal" against Blackburn, the 7th District's Republican congresswoman he's challenging for a fourth term. He had served two years with her in the state Senate and supported her congressional campaign in 2004. "But I became disappointed with the Republican majority we had, that we worked so hard to get in place. They squandered the opportunity," he said. "They talked the talk but they stopped walking the walk, and we were turned out of office in 2006. Unfortunately, in my view -- and some may disagree -- the incumbent was part of the problem." During the question and answer period, Demetra Boyd pressed Leatherwood further: "Tell us why you are running against her and why we should vote for you." He pulled off the gloves, condemning Blackburn for opposing a State Children's Health Insurance Program expansion that he said would have helped the Regional Medical Center at Memphis but voting for a "$300,000 earmark for the Houston zoo," for "funneling over $300,000" in campaign funds to her daughter and son-in-law, and for some 20 trips, paid for by special interests, that he said she and her congressional staffers took over six years. Blackburn and Leatherwood, who square off in the Aug. 5 Republican primary, are competing across the sprawling 15-county district that goes from East Memphis to Clarksville. Montgomery County is Blackburn territory -- the Republican women made that clear -- and Leatherwood was an unknown figure. But the women (and three men) laughed at the Arlington resident's campaign jokes and nodded support for his positions on curbing illegal immigration and the need to match spending cuts with tax cuts. "She's very popular," Boyd said afterward. And she, like most of the women there, knows Blackburn personally. "He didn't say anything to make me not support her." Elfie Marshal said Leatherwood "made a good case. There were a lot of tough questions. You could tell his answers came from his heart and from his beliefs. It's true that the Republican Party has lost its way and one of the reasons why the Democrats have cashed in. I think he would have a chance if he gets his message out." She said she'll decide who to support after further research. Leatherwood said he has never paid any family members from campaign funds and has never taken trips paid for by interest groups, although he had plenty of chances on the state Senate Finance Committee. He said general election voters will hold the GOP accountable if the party doesn't hold its own members accountable in the primary. "When I got involved in the campaign, The Commercial Appeal had reported she had paid family members -- her daughter and son-in-law -- over $120,000 in campaign and (political action committee) money. But one of the watchdog ethics groups up there said no, it's actually over $300,000. "Frankly, I think they're ethical breaches that Republicans ought to be above. And if we had been above them, Tom Delay, her mentor, wouldn't have had to resign. She's done many of the things: Tom Delay had family on the payroll. Special interest trips. Trouble shifting money around. That district ended up flipping from Republican to Democrat. "Frankly I believe -- you can disagree -- she has too much baggage to represent us going into November." Blackburn campaign spokeswoman Darcy Anderson said Leatherwood "has been misinforming people" when he talks about "family members. The only family member on her campaign is (her daughter) Mary Morgan (Ketchel), on her finance team. If Mary Morgan does not raise money, she does not make money. She makes 10 percent. That's the average any other fundraiser would make. Her (Blackburn's) husband does not get paid. Her son does not get paid. "That's all he's been running on," Anderson said.

Memphis Commercial Appeal - Blackburn Campaign Admits Finance Glitch U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., on Tuesday acknowledged failing to report more than a quarter-million dollars in campaign expenditures over the past six years while at the same time failing to report $102,044 in contributions. Blackburn, seeking her fourth term and facing both Republican and Democratic opponents, told The Commercial Appeal she plans to reveal the errant Federal Election Commission reporting in a series of amendments to disclosure reports dating back to her first run for Congress in 2002. She sought to put the best face on the embarrassing revelation by saying that her own campaign staff -- including her daughter-fundraiser, Mary Morgan Ketchel -- discovered the discrepancy in 2005 and that her campaign committee voluntarily reported it to the FEC's Office of General Counsel. She did that, she said, even though some of the activity occurred so long ago it would not now be considered a violation. "We have sought the FEC's guidance and we've worked with them every step of the way," Blackburn said. "There are a lot of people out there who are frustrated with politicians that don't do what they say they're going to do or maybe even try to live by a different set of rules," Blackburn said. "This is an indication of how diligently my team and I will work to make certain that we fulfill our responsibility to those that we serve." Bob Biersack, a spokesman for the FEC, said he could not comment on potential "enforcement actions." Tom Leatherwood, her Republican challenger and the Shelby County Register of Deeds, called the admissions "phenomenal." In a written statement, Leatherwood added: "While many families are struggling just to make the monthly budget in this poor economy, Congressman Blackburn has misplaced over a quarter of a million dollars. If we can't trust her to manage her own budget, how can we trust her to manage our tax dollars?" The 7th congressional district includes parts of eastern Shelby County and stretches to the Nashville suburbs. Blackburn is from Brentwood.Gray Sasser, chairman of the Tennessee Democratic Party, which will have a candidate in the general election race in November, called the revelations "troubling" and "disturbing," adding, "she needs to, at the bare minimum, comply with the law." It was not Blackburn's first problem with the commission that regulates campaign spending. In March 2006, her campaign committee paid a $1,500 fine and entered into a negotiated settlement in a dispute with the FEC after an inquiry found it underreported contributions by more than $61,800.Campaign spokesman Darcy Anderson said that she believes the 2006 underreporting is part of the financial reconciliation acknowledged by Blackburn Tuesday. Her political action committee, WedgePAC, was also cited for making an excessive contribution to her campaign that year. Its treasurer at the time was her son-in-law. At a conference room in the National Republican Congressional Committee offices, Blackburn released a summary of the amendments her campaign will be making to correct the record. It indicates unreported contributions of $102,044, most from the 2002 campaign; unreported expenditures of $286,278; and "routine accounting errors" of $52,024. Among the unreported expenditures were $18,821 to Paul and Mary Morgan Ketchel and $3,753 to either her husband Chuck, her son Chad or herself. This newspaper reported in 2006 that her campaign committee and political action committee had reported payments of more than $123,000 to her lobbyist son-in-law's company for consulting. Asked if she expects some political fallout or a falloff in donations after the admissions, Blackburn was again upbeat. "I think this is one of those things that's going to end up being a helpful thing for us," she said. "We chose to do this. We brought it forward."