Briley and Dean go all in

UPDATED 5:06 p.m. to add Gentry filing
Both candidates donate to own campaigns -- but one gave himself a tad bit more than the other

Email | Print By Ken Whitehouse

Updated 5:06 p.m.- The mayoral campaign of Howard Gentry announced late today that they raised $122,225 during the April 1 -June 30, 2007 reporting period, according to the disclosure the campaign filed today with the Davidson County Election Commission.

That brings the total raised so far to $333,048. The campaign has $131,489 on-hand now. Gentry has made no loans or contributions to his campaign.

Editor's note: The Dean campaign notified NashvillePost.com that in a statement earlier today that its candidate had donated $325,000 to his own campaign. The campaign called back after the story was posted and acknowledged an error on their part and that that amount was listed as a loan on disclosure forms.

The difference is important because loans made to a campaign by a candidate can be paid back through donations made by other contributors. If candidates make personal donations to their campaigns and listed them as such on disclosure forms, then they cannot be reimbursed.

Corrected story:

Today, candidates vying to fill the mayoral seat being vacated by Bill Purcell have to show their hand when it comes to money raised since June 1. After candidates Buck Dozier and Bob Clement showed their chip counts yesterday, rivals David Briley and Karl Dean appear to be going all-in.

The campaign of David Briley told NashvillePost.com that it has raised a little over $108,000 for the reporting period, and Briley himself has made an additional $100,000 loan to the campaign. That brings the total to $208,349. Team Briley added that it has $215,198 cash on hand. When asked about the loan, Briley officials said it came from the candidate's personal funds.

Meanwhile, the campaign of Karl Dean said that it will file a financial disclosure today showing about $523,000 in campaign contributions during the second quarter and almost $850,000 raised to date. Of the overall total, $470,000 came from supporters, and $200,000 of that was raised in the second quarter. Dean himself has donated $50,000 to his own campaign, and has loaned his campaign an additional $325,000 during the last reporting period.

Janel Lacey, Dean campaign spokesperson, told NashvillePost.com that Dean has about $50,000 cash on hand. When asked if that meant that Dean would be putting more of his own money in the race, she replied "Karl is going to do what it takes to make the runoff. We have three more fundraisers on the books, and checks keep coming in. The Tennessean endorsement helped."

What all this means is that both Briley and Dean are in for the long haul. Rumors have circled around Nashville for weeks that with both candidates vying for the same base, one of them would get out of the race to make way for the other. What today's reports mean is that neither one is going to back down.

Vice mayor Howard Gentry has yet to release his campaign finance disclosure information.

Early voting begins Friday, and election day is August 2nd.