Records show that California native and congressional candidate Robby Starbuck did not give any financial contributions to former President Donald Trump or Republican candidates prior to his run for Tennessee’s 5th Congressional District.
The Tennessee Star verified Starbuck gave $40 to WINRED on October 15, 2020, $250 to the Williamson County GOP on July 21, 2021, $500 to the Williamson County GOP on February 3, $100 to the Tennessee GOP on February 28, and an additional donation to the Davidson County GOP in February.
Starbuck also claimed other donations to Tennessee U.S. Rep. Mark Green, but those occurred during this FEC quarter reporting cycle. The reporting will not become public until mid-April.
Starbuck first began publicly discussing a run for Tennessee’s 5th Congressional District as early as July 19, 2020. He discussed a generic run for the U.S. House in May of 2020, well before the August 2020 U.S. Senate primary, which he did not vote in.
The Star previously reported that a challenge to Starbuck’s Republican bona fide status was made to the Tennessee GOP, as well as fellow carpetbaggers Morgan Ortagus and David Vitalli. Lifelong Tennessean Baxter Lee has also been challenged.
In response to those challenges, Starbuck issued a statement on the “ridiculous challenges” to his eligibility to “run to represent Tennessee’s 5th district in United States Congress.”
In the statement, Starbuck said he had been vouched for by three GOP county party chares and six county election commission members.
He provided the names to The Star. They are “Davidson County Party Chair Jim Garrett, Marshall County Party Chair Julie Quan, and Lewis County Party Chair Cody Mitchell.” The election commission members are “Williamson County Vice Chair Sean Raesemann, Davidson County Executive Committee Communications Secretary Wendi Mahoney and Shannon McGuffin, the Davidson County Republican Party Treasurer.”
He said he’ll likely add to those names.
The Tennessee GOP cannot take action on the challenge process until after the April 7 qualifying petitions deadline.
The Star asked Starbuck to discuss his support of Trump as well as lack of donations to his campaign.
Starbuck responded:
When President Trump vowed to fund his own campaign in 2015/2016, I decided to put my action into activism instead. I was one of the loudest digital influencers supporting President Trump in both of his elections. I also made ads to support him and the party in 2020. President Trump’s own family can vouch for my loud support. Lara Trump interviewed me during election season on Trump’s now banned social media pages and praised me for my loud support of Trump in an industry that’s so incredibly hateful toward Trump supporters. Donald Trump Jr. posted on social media that “I haven’t seen a better representation of what it means to MAGA!!!” when he re-posted a video I made to support his dad and the entire Republican Party. I also threw freedom rallies before the election in 2020 to help turnout the vote for all Republicans including President Trump. I paid for those myself or in the case of one rally, I organized it with the Williamson County Republican Party. I also wrote the TRUMP ACCOMPLISHMENTS list that went viral and got downloaded millions of times. Even the fake news New York Times covered how far and wide my list was distributed across the nation. Attached are some relevant screenshots. My outspoken stances and actions are a big reason that I’m endorsed in my run for Congress by: Senator Rand Paul, Williamson County Sheriff Dusty Rhoades, Candace Owens, President Trump Lawyer Jenna Ellis, America’s Mayor and former Trump Advisor Rudy Giuliani, President Trump advisor Steve Cortes, Congressman Madison Cawthorn, Congressman Ken Buck, Charlie Kirk, Congressman Thomas Massie, Republicans for National Renewal, Turning Point Action, Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene and many more.
A search of Starbuck’s Twitter account does not reveal any comments about Trump’s candidacy in 2015.
Starbuck fails to meet the GOP bona fide standard of voting in three of the last four statewide primaries, a standard he once falsely claimed to meet but later reversed himself. Starbuck has failed to vote in any Tennessee Republican primary.
In the March 14 statement emailed to The Star, Starbuck threatened legal action if his eligibility for the 2022 GOP TN-5 primary is challenged.
“I‘ve retained a world-class lawyer who has won multiple Supreme Court cases and I’ll deploy them accordingly if anyone’s desperate enough to contest my eligibility,” he said.
“If they do contest my eligibility, I hope they have deep pockets because they’ll end up paying my legal fees after I win. Tennessee was my primary residence in time to meet any new standard that would be set by the law being considered by our legislature if it passes.”
Starbuck further told The Star Tuesday, “My lawyers are Harmeet Dhillon and Michael Columbo. I can confirm Michael sent the vouching letters written by three party chairs, my letter, other vouching letters and my legal team’s letter to Tennessee GOP Chair Scott Golden.”
He added, “We still have not seen a copy of challenges made to my candidacy but I have requested copies multiple times. We hope to have this put to rest quickly. My work supporting Republican causes with activism, money and my prior voter registration in a closed primary state make it clear that I’m a bona fide Republican.”
With the exception of the president, vice president, political party state central committees, and county central committees, there are no Republican or Democrat primaries in California. California, since 2010, uses a nonpartisan blanket primary for “voter-nominated” offices in which every candidate regardless of political party runs on the same ballot. That fact contradicts Starbuck’s claim of previous voter registration in a “closed primary state.”
The vast majority of Starbuck’s Tennessee activism appears to have occurred after he began publicly discussing a run for the U.S. House.
Other candidates in the GOP primary for TN-5 include former Speaker of the Tennessee House of Representatives Beth Harwell, Maury County Mayor Andy Ogles, Ortagus, Vitalli, former Brig. Gen. Kurt Winstead, Natisha Brooks, and Stewart Parks.
Senate aide Tres Wittum is expected to announce in the coming weeks.
– – –
Aaron Gulbransen is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Email tips to [email protected]. Follow Aaron on GETTR.
Photo “Robby Starbuck” by Robby Starbuck. Photo “Donald Trump” by Shealah Craighead. Background Photo “U.S. Capitol” by Martin Falbisoner. CC BY-SA 3.0.
