In a game of duelling press releases, each of Tennessee’s two major political parties is calling on the other to return money from donors they consider to be unsavory.
The Democrats are focused on Pilot Oil. The Knoxville-based company operates gas stations and truck stops. Its former president, Bill Haslam, is currently the mayor of Knoxville and has been rumored to be considering a run for governor on the GOP ticket. Pilot Oil executives have given more than 40-thousand dollars to Tennessee Republicans, including Senate Speaker Ron Ramsey.
Now the Florida Attorney General’s office is investigating the company on suspicion of price gouging following Hurricane Ike. State Democrats say that’s reason enough for Tennessee politicians to return money that, in the words of their press release, “was taken from…commuters.”
Meanwhile, the GOP says Democrats should dump funds donated by Barry Stokes. Last week, the former retirement plan manager plead guilty to stealing more than 19-million dollars from his customers’ 401(k) accounts. Prior to being charged with the crime two years ago, Stokes gave more than 70-thousand dollars to Democrats, both on the state and national level.
The GOP demand echoes previous calls from within the Democratic party. In October 2006, State Senator Doug Jackson of Dickson told the Nashville Post he was urging his party’s leaders to return the money given by Stokes, saying –quote- “it would be a travesty to keep such questionable contributions.”
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