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New comptroller gave $36,500 to GOP causes before electionhttp://www.tennessean.com/article/20090131/NEWS0201/901310354/-1/NLETTER01?source=nletter-newsBy Theo Emery • THE TENNESSEAN • January 31, 2009  Newly elected Tennessee Comptroller of the Treasury Justin Wilsonhttp://www.tn.gov/comptroller/shared/pdf/20090115ComptrollerWilsonElection.pdfIn the weeks leading up to his election as the new state comptroller earlier this month, Justin Wilson donated $36,500 to GOP House members and political action committees.
Wilson has long been a generous donor to the GOP, and has given tens of thousands of dollars to candidates and political action committees in previous elections for years, as well as to charities.
But some of his fourth-quarter donations arrived at crucial moments in the process of nominating and electing state constitutional officers.
And one contribution appears to signal that Wilson's election was a foregone conclusion. While most of his fourth-quarter donations list Wilson's occupation as attorney, a $500 gift he made on Jan. 12 to an incoming GOP lawmaker records his occupation as state comptroller, even though the election was days away.
This year's unprecedented election of constitutional officers under a GOP-controlled legislature for the first time forced lawmakers to consider the role that campaign contributions could play in candidates' efforts to seek the $180,000-a-year positions.
(...)
House Majority Leader Jason Mumpower, whose political action committee received $5,000 from Wilson about a week before Wilson's nomination, said campaign contributions played no role in the election of the constitutional officers.  Rep. Jason Mumpower, R-Bristol"Justin Wilson, his late father and his entire family have been strong financial supporters of the Republican Party for decades, not just for years. His character and ethics and integrity are beyond reproach, and I'm proud that he's our comptroller," he said.
Pay-to-play Concern Rose (...)
The level of concern rose amid the national "pay-to-play" drama of now-impeached Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, who was indicted for allegedly putting President Barack Obama's seat up for sale. With that scandal in the headlines at the time of the election, that same term also quietly circulated in connection with the constitutional offices.
As part of the Republicans' nomination process, candidates were asked to make numerous disclosures, but not their campaign contributions.
(...)
Dick Williams, chairman of the Tennessee chapter of the watchdog group Common Cause, said contribution disclosures in constitutional office elections should become part of the process.
"That's exactly why we want the disclosure, to discourage pay-to-play, or to discourage the possibility of that," he said. "Not to say that campaign contributions are all bribes … but to say that (at) least if they're public, then people can make up their own minds." $15,000 Not Disclosed The week of the nominations and the election, Senate Majority Leader Jim Kyle asked that nominees disclose their donations.
All three Democratic and three Republican candidates did so, and two GOP nominees reported making donations — Wilson and now-Treasurer David Lillard. Lillard specified the amounts he gave — $250 to Sen. Dolores Gresham and $250 to Rep. Josh Evans, but Wilson did not specify the amounts.
The fourth-quarter campaign filings, which were due on Monday, document the amounts totaling $36,500. That included a $15,000 donation to the Tennessee Legislative Campaign Committee, the political action committee for the state GOP, recorded on Jan. 12, the day he received the GOP nomination. He did not include the gift in the disclosure letter he sent to Kyle two days later.
Wilson said he was not sure when he actually made the donation, but was certain it was not on the date of his nomination. A spokesman for the state GOP said there was no way to ascertain by press time what day the donation was actually made.
Regardless, Wilson said it was not an effort to influence GOP lawmakers and rejected the notion that pay-to-play factored into the constitutional office elections. "To my situation, it has no relevance whatsoever," he said.
A spokeswoman for Wilson later called back and said that the $15,000 donation to the GOP had been designated for candidates for federal office and would not have gone to any state lawmakers.
Kyle said he asked for the disclosures because it was important for the public and lawmakers to know about donations from candidates for the constitutional offices. He said he was "disappointed" that Wilson left off the $15,000 donation.
Wilson said that leaving off the donation was probably an oversight on his part and that he did his best to accurately disclose for Kyle where his political donations had gone.
"I didn't have my records, and I filled it out the best I could," he said.
Contact Theo Emery at 615-726-4889 or temery@tennessean.com.
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