Campaign shenanigans in the Tri-Cities targeting conservative candidate, Bobby Harshbarger

An ethics complaint has been filed against a conservative candidate for State Senate, Bobby Harshbarger. The complaint alleges that there is coordination between the campaign and the East Tennessee Conservatives PAC which has so far sent out texting campaigns regarding the voting record of the incumbent in the race, Senator Jon Lundberg.

The irony is important to recognize. The complaint will be reviewed by Lauren Topping, who happens to be an attorney with the State of Tennessee and the wife of a campaign consultant working for Jon Lundberg. Talk about a case of the pot calling the kettle black.

A similar complaint (52 pages worth) was filed in 2022 against Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson regarding his primary election campaign and coordination with other PACs. Despite a mountain of evidence, the TN Registry of Election Finance dismissed the complaint stating that it is perfectly legal in Tennessee for such coordination to occur.

It will be interesting to see if the same determination is made when conservatives are facing the same accusations.