Tom Leatherwood May Have Had Better Sundays Than This One…

By Kleinheider Posted on July 20, 2008 at 11:16 am

…but, if so, he probably can’t remember them right now. Just as early voting for the August 7th primary starts to ramp up, Gannett’s man in Washington reveals the lobbying efforts of Rep. Marsha Blackburn’s son-in-law, Paul Ketchel:

Ketchel, who earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Tennessee, worked for former Tennessee Sen. Bill Frist from 1998-2001 as technology systems administrator. There he met Blackburn’s daughter, Mary Morgan. He then worked in government relations for a pharmaceutical company before striking out on his own as a lobbyist. He lobbied under the name Ketchel & Associates before going to work for the firm now known as American Capitol Group.

“I don’t feel that I should have to give up my career simply because my wife’s mother was elected to public office at a later time,” Ketchel said.

Blackburn was first elected in 2002 and began serving in 2003. The first lobbying reports mentioning Ketchel appear in May 2003.

SEE ALSO:
Truman Bean
Sharon Cobb
Commercial Appeal endorses Leatherwood
Leatherwood campaign ads

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Tags: Chad Blackburn, gangster stuff, Marsha Blackburn, Mary Morgan Ketchel, Paul Ketchel, Tom Leatherwood  

Watchdog Group Files FEC Complaint On Congressman Blackburn

By Kleinheider Posted on June 11, 2008 at 12:30 pm

From Katie Allison Granju:

The Federal Election Commission should conduct a thorough investigation of Rep. Marsha Blackburn’s troubled campaign finances, according to a complaint filed Wednesday with the FEC by a watchdog group.

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington and Germantown, Tenn., resident Barbara Kaye Ginsburg filed the complaint against the committee and the committee’s treasurer, Tea Hoffman.

UPDATE: Blackburn responds:

“Rep. Blackburn, in holding her campaign to a strict ethical standard, self-initiated a reconciliation of her campaign accounts. The reconciliation confirmed that all funds were properly raised and properly spent. She is confident that FEC review of those records will agree with this assessment. In regards to the merit less complaint filed by the liberal partisan group CREW, Rep. Blackburn is not surprised and unimpressed. This is an election year and conservative women are prime targets for Democrat attack.”

SEE ALSO:
The CREW presser
Roll Call
City Paper
Jackson Sun
Southern Beale

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Tags: Brentwood, CREW, FEC, Franklin, Germantown, Marsha Blackburn, Mary Morgan Ketchel, Paul Ketchel  

Post Politics: 16 April 2008

By Kleinheider Posted on April 17, 2008 at 11:41 am

Marsha Blackburn’s Republican challenger, Tom Leatherwood, received a gift yesterday in the form of news that incumbent Blackburn will “voluntarily” revise downward her campaign finance statement due to mistakes made back in 2002, when she switched from running for re-election to the state Senate to running for Congress.

Among the unreported expenditures were $18,821 to her daughter and son-in-law Paul and Mary Morgan Ketchel and $3,753 to either her husband Chuck, her son Chad or herself. Blogger Sharon Cobb revels in the news and Mike Byrd calls for the reporting of the bigger picture.

On the same day this news is released, Politico profiles Blackburn discussing her preference for the term “congressman” despite her obvious femininity.

Read more

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Tags: James Hart, Jimmy Duncan, Jimmy Kyle, Marsha Blackburn, Mary Morgan Ketchel, Paul Ketchel, Tom Leatherwood