I’m for Kerry!

“You don’t solve problems created by politicians by sending more politicians to [Nashville].”

Robertson and Sumner County voters will take to the polls tomorrow to replace newly-elected Congressman Diane Black, who served in the Tennessee House and Senate before being elected to replace longtime Democrat Congressman Bart Gordon last November.

Early voting ended last week with a total of 3,854 votes cast, 60% of which came from Sumner County, the larger of the two counties. Kerry calls Robertson County home, while his general election opponent (about whom I know this much) hails from Sumner County.

For those of you just tuning into this race, Roberts handily defeated 5 other Republican challengers by stomping them in Robertson County (his home county), and coming in a solid third in Sumner County. All 5 challengers called Sumner County home. One Mr. William Slater was the favorite to win, endorsed by every Republican with a title — and even supported by Congressman Diane Black’s husband.

But Roberts’ strategy – win the heck out of Robertson County and let the other guys duke it out in Sumner County – paid off.

Pre-General financial reports posted over the weekend, and the special election is tomorrow, so there’s a bit to cover in this post.

Ken Wilber began the period with $3,715 on hand to Roberts’ $3,435.19. But that’s about the only thing they had in common.

Wilber raised a total of $16,650 for the Pre-General Period. Some notable contributions included Tennessee’s Big Labor – the AFL-CIO – with a total of $1,200 in contributions, Rogers Group PAC with a $1,000 contribution, and former pro-income tax State Senator Bob Rochelle with a $500 contribution. Wilber ended the period with $9,214.75 on hand.

Roberts, on the other hand, blew fundraising out of the water — something I genuinely thought he was incapable of doing. I understand he brought Jeff Hartline on board to help out (something that’s reflected in the financial disclosure, so it’s no secret). I believe Roberts can likely thank Hartline for the bulk of his high dollar contributions.

For the period, Roberts raised a total of $95,853.75. Lee Beaman maxed out; Speaker Harwell gave $500 through her PAC; Monty Lankford kicked in $5,000 through his PAC; Senator Randy McNally gave $2,000; MPAC dropped $7,500; Lt. Gov. Ramsey gave $1,000 from his Gubernatorial account and $7,500 from RAAMPAC; Rogers Group PAC hedged their bets with $1,000 to Roberts; Senator Jim Tracy gave $1,500; Congressman Blackburn’s Wedge PAC gave $500; and the Senate Republican Caucus gave $20,000.

Noticeably absent were personal contributions from Senate Republican Caucus Chairman Bill Ketron and former State Senator Diane Black.

Roberts paid libertarian gadfly Matt Collins $560 for campaign work, tea party activist Ruth Fennell $2,000 for campaign work, and Jeff Hartline $8,500 for playing the role of campaign manager.

It’s all about turnout from here on out. Tomorrow, Republican voters should go to the polls to cast their vote for Roberts. An energized TEA (teachers’ union, not the good kind of TEA) constituency will likely be out in force, so Republicans cannot simply rest on their laurels with the assumption that this election is in the bag.

Roberts is the right man for the job. If you live in the 18th State Senate district and you haven’t voted already, I ask that you do so tomorrow.