Image: Senator Bobby Harshbarger and family as he is sworn in as State Senator for Tennessee’s District 4 on January 14th, 2025. Image Credit: Bobby Harshbarger for TN Senate District 4 / Facebook
The Tennessee Conservative [By Paula Gomes] –
The Tennessee Registry of Election Finance (TREF) continues to badger a conservative lawmaker who was elected last November.
State Senator Bobby Harshbarger (R-Kingsport-District 4) who beat incumbent Bristol lawmaker Jon Lundberg in the Republican primary last August has faced an ongoing barrage of allegations that some might say verges on gossip, and an ensuing investigation that TREF refuses to put to bed.
The board has now opted to subpoena two members of the East Tennessee Conservatives political action committee (ETC PAC) despite an investigation conducted by the Tennessee Attorney General’s office who found no evidence of any alleged collusion that involved Harshbarger’s campaign.
All members of TREF’s board voted to subpoena the pair, Thomas Datwyler and Robert Phillips III, as well as deciding to subpoena Datwyler regarding a group that campaigned against state Representative Michele Reneau (R-Signal Mountain-District 27) who defeated Patsy Hazlewood in the primary and who went on to win her seat in the 2024 General Election.
Last year, Senate Republican Caucus chairman Ken Yager (R-Kingston-District 12) filed the complaint accusing ETC PAC and Congresswoman Diana Harshbarger’s campaign of illegal coordination in the Republican primary. Datwyler serves as treasurer for both organizations.
Yager, who was arrested in Georgia last December on charges of DUI, hit-and-run, and failure to stop at a stop sign, said at the time his complaint was filed that “the various connections between the Bobby Harshbarger campaign and the [ETC PAC] need to be scrutinized.” Harshbarger is the son of the Congresswoman for Tennessee’s first district.
Datwyler, the treasurer for dozens of conservative campaigns and PACSs across the country, and whose role is campaign finance compliance, told The Center Square that no money was shared between the campaigns of PACs. “That would be illegal,” said Datwyler.
Last June, TREF voted for the complaint to be sent to the Tennessee AG who investigated and reported in October that none of the emails at issue between Datwyler and Harshbarger discussed the PAC which spent heavily on campaign mailers pointing out Lundberg’s liberal voting record.
Additionally, Harshbarger told investigators with the AG’s office that Datwyler assisted him only with initial compliance in setting up his campaign.
Datwyler’s attorney called for the matter to be quickly dismissed after the AG’s report found “no factual or legal basis to support the allegations of improper coordination.”
TREF appears unable to let the matter go.
At the registry’s most recent meeting, attorney Lauren Topping told members that ETC PAC did not report expenditures as either in-kind or independent and because of these “improper” disclosures, it was “impossible for us to determine whether a conduit existed based on the information we have.”
Topping said that violations of the reporting requirements “at a very minimum” were likely to have occurred.
While Topping recommended that TREF hold a show-cause hearing for Datwyler, Phillips, and Senator Harshbarger, the board decided to jump ahead in issuing subpoenas, something they’ve been itching to do for months.
About the Author: Paula Gomes is a Tennessee resident and reporter for The Tennessee Conservative. You can reach Paula at paula@tennesseeconservativenews.com.
