Democrats Demand Refunds from McLeary
Tenessee Democratic Party Chairman Bob Tuke today called on former Democratic State Senator Don McLeary to immediately return $79,679 in campaign contributions he accepted from the Tennessee Democratic Party and the Senate Democratic Caucus during the 2002 election cycle and to refund individual Democratic contributions as well. “Those were dollars contributed by good Democrats in good faith,” Tuke said. “By accepting our support and then switching parties before his term expired, Don McLeary acted in bad faith. At this point, the only honorable thing to do is to return those funds. If Don McLeary doesn’t return that money, then he’s not an honorable man.”
In 2002, the Senate Democratic Caucus contributed $40,000 to McLeary and made in-kind contributions totaling $12,000 for consulting, research and media services. The Tennessee Democratic Party’s Victory 2002 committee made in-kind contributions to McLeary totaling $27,679 for printing and postage. McLeary used the resources to defeat former Republican Senator Bobby Carter. “Had we known at the time that we were just going to replace one Republican with another, we would not have made those contributions,” said Tuke, who is meeting today with Democratic Party officials from Madison, Gibson and Carroll counties to begin compiling lists of individual donors who will ask for their money back as well.
“Clearly, Democrats made a bad investment in a candidate who turned out to be bankrupt of character,” Tuke said. “Like any creditor dealing with a bankruptcy, we’re going to seek to recoup our investment.”
