Tennessee’s top political action committee is becoming increasingly suspect
Chloe Akers, a former Knoxville attorney who founded and disbanded the Liminal Political Action Committee (a “movement of moderates”) after raising more than $400,000, is currently busy explaining how the money was used.
She failed to follow up with early donors, who wondered why. Since then, she has emailed hundreds of people to justify her actions. She even asked two locals to serve on the board of her new group, Best of TN. Both declined.
Former Knox Democratic Party Chairman Matt Shears criticized Akers’ promise to get voters to the polls because she did not say which candidates would benefit from the effort. Shears found the entire email so confusing as to be incomprehensible.
“I have read this (Aker’s email) several times and cannot decipher what these words mean,” Shears said.
For example, Akers writes that the purpose of the group is to “engage in a range of tasks, including voter modeling and data targeting analysis, considering intersecting policy issues, developing a multi-faceted messaging and digital media strategy, and establishing a community engagement platform. …”
Shears, a savvy political observer, rightly questions what all this means. “Chloe Akers has an agenda, but I’m not convinced it’s good for the majority of Tennesseans, regardless of party.”
Meanwhile, Akers is going full steam ahead with a more Republican flavor to the new fund she has created. She has lured longtime and respected Republican fundraiser Kim Kaegi to her board and claims $660,000 has been raised. Akers, however, declined to name the donors.
Akers confirmed in her interviews that she receives $180,000 a year from her donations. She says that’s how much she earned as a lawyer and should receive the same compensation for her political work. That’s a self-serving argument.
Kaegi’s presence appeases big-name Republicans, but how much does she get paid for her work? Plus, there are two other full-time staffers on board, so a significant portion of the $660,000 likely goes to overhead and consultants, not civic engagement.
This process is suspicious.
Conservative Republicans excluded from South Knox County Conservative independent Stacey Bryan Smith said he had “no real chance” of winning at their County Commission candidate forum on June 18. They had invited Democrat Matthew Park and Republican Andy Fox, the other two candidates.
Previously, some Fox supporters had unsuccessfully attempted to remove Smith from the ballot by challenging the signatures on his petition. Apparently, the Fox campaign team believed that Smith had a great chance of winning votes from Fox.
Park joined Smith in opposing this maneuver, but then declared that he would not help silence Smith and withdrew from the forum.
Fox is in a tightly contested race. He knows it. Given the illogical and unfair behavior of the Fox campaign, voters might consider Park or Smith as a more objective and fair alternative.
The general district elections will take place on August 1st.
Knoxville historian Sandy McNabb is honored June 27 at the Knoxville History Project’s eighth annual luncheon at the Foundry in World’s Fair Park.
Birthdays
June 26: Attorney Terry Adams is 54. Shelley A. Burns is 51. Margie Nichols is 71. Robert Shipley is 61.
June 27: Michael Bittel is 57. Knox News editor Joel Christopher is 53. Susan Lauver is 70. Kyle McCarter is 62. Ann Rowland is 82. Farragut Mayor Ron Williams is 74.
June 28th: Brian Bibb is 36. Ryan Levenson is 41. Greg Mackay is 70. Former Knox GOP Chairman Gerald Turner is 82.
June 29: Roy Cockrum is 68. Rob DeLozier Jr. is 77. Monty L. Montgomery III is 71. Lawrence Nicholson is 68. Amy Penn is 55. Michael Schmidt is 27. Carmen J. Trammell is 72. Charles Wagner is 80. State Rep. Jason Zachary is 47.
June 30th: Charles Al-Bawi is 34. Chip Barry is 58. Former Chancellor Sharon Bell is 80. Tony Cappiello is 60. Sherri Lee is 78. Leland Price is 54. Former City Councilman Marshall Stair is 46. Allan Willoughby is 70.
July 1: Ann Bailey, sister of former Governor Bill Haslam, is 68. Dr. Sarkis Chobanian is 73. Former Tennessee Governor Winfield Dunn is 97. Former county schools superintendent Jim McIntyre is 57. Teddie Mounts is 63. Former school board chairman Dan Murphy is 69. Reverend Johnnie Skinner is 74. Anne Wallace is 44.
2nd July: Former city parks and recreation director Sam Anderson is 71. Leslie S. Badaines is 80. Merlin Theodore is 50.
3rd of July: Former Governor and U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander is 84. Dr. Harold Black is 79. Mackey Brownlee is 74. Kelly Burchett, wife of Congressman Tim Burchett, is 53. Donna Cobble is 81. Anne Crais is 74. Former State Representative Bill Dunn is 63. Danita K. McCartney is 60. Nitinkumar Patel is 50. Paul Peeler is 33. Former Supervisor of Elections Cliff Rodgers is 71.
Victor Ashe is a former mayor of Knoxville and former ambassador to Poland. He is a columnist for Shopper News.
Knox News and Shopper News will promptly correct any errors. If you believe we have published incorrect information, please email [email protected]. Describe the error, where you saw it, the date, page number or URL.
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Maren Morris lets herself “fall apart” with Julia Michaels in her new song “Cut!”
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