It was determined on Tuesday that Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti will receive a complaint against Tennessee State Senate candidate Bobby Harshbarger, the Republican primary challenger to State Senator Jon Lundberg (R-Bristol).
The complaint, originally filed by Tennessee Senate Republican Caucus Chair Ken Yager (R-Kingston) on April 25, alleges inappropriate collusion between political campaigns and the East Tennessee Conservatives PAC to send mass text messages that allege Lundberg failed to adequately represent his conservative constituents on key votes.
The campaign treasurer for Diana Harshbarger is Thomas Datwyler, according to Times News. Bobby Harshbarger (pictured above, left), who announced his candidacy in April, is the son of Representative Diana Harshbarger (R-TN-01).
Datwyler is also the treasurer for the East Tennessee Conservatives PAC, which the Tennessee Registry of Election Finance determined “indicates that the PAC and the Harshbarger Congressional campaign are coordinating in violation of Tennessee’s statutes to support the State Senate campaign of Mr. Harshbarger.”
As The Tennessee Star recently reported, Datwyler is also the treasurer who submitted the recently amended campaign filings for Representative Andy Ogles (R-TN-05).
The campaign manager for Bobby Harshbarger, Caleb Rose, additionally previously worked for Diana Harshbarger in 2020.
Rose dismissed the complaint on behalf of the Bobby Harshbarger campaign after it was elevated to Skrmetti, declaring to NewsChannel 11, “This is nothing more than a desperate attempt to save Lundberg’s failing campaign. He is calling in every favor from the establishment in Nashville because he doesn’t want voters to look at his record of betraying East Tennessee values.“
Matt Wolking, a former aide to former President Donald Trump who worked for a pro-DeSantis super PAC last year, told the outlet that the complaint was a distraction from “Liberal Lundberg” to keep constituents from analyzing his voting record.
Governor Bill Lee, who has endorsed Lundberg (pictured above, right), claimed to the outlet that the Bobby Harshbarger campaign is “primarily being managed and run and funded from Washington, D.C., and that’s not what this Upper East community needs.”
Issues raised by the pro-Bobby Harshbarger text messages include Lundberg’s vote against legislation that would have banned the LGBT Pride flag from schools in Tennessee. Defending his vote, Lundberg explained the legislation would have also banned the Betsy Ross and Don’t Tread on Me flags, which he considered appropriate for schools. The legislation ultimately died in the State Senate.
The pro-Bobby Harshbarger group also claimed Lundberg voted to kill bills strengthening penalties for transporting illegal immigrants and imposing harsher penalties for men who enter women’s restrooms.
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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Pennsylvania Daily Star and The Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Bobby Harshbarger” by Bobby Harshbarger. Photo “Jon Lundberg” by Jon Lundberg. Background Photo “Tennessee State Capitol” by FaceMePLS. CC BY 2.0.
