NASHVILLE – The Tennessee Republican Party today applauds the Tennessee Registry of Election Finance for taking a strong stand against the misuse of campaign funds by elected officials with its unprecedented $120,000 fine levied on state Sen. Jerry Cooper, the Morrison Democrat caught stealing nearly $95,000 from his campaign account.

Documents uncovered in an unrelated bank fraud trial indicated that Cooper funneled $95,004 from his campaign account into his personal account using 24 checks written from December 1999 to November 2001. The Registry found that the checks were unreported on Cooper’s campaign finance disclosures.

The Registry unanimously agreed Cooper violated state campaign finance laws with 23 of the 24 checks, totaling $94,350, and voted 5-1 to fine Cooper $120,000 for his actions. He faced a maximum potential fine of $230,000 - $10,000 for each illegal check.

TREF member George Harding, the House Democratic Caucus appointee on the Registry, had proposed treating all 23 checks as a single violation and fining Cooper a maximum of $10,000, which would have left Cooper an $85,000 profit for stealing campaign funds.

“Sen. Cooper’s diversion of campaign funds to his personal use was an egregious breach of trust with his contributors,” said Bill Hobbs, communications director for the Tennessee Republican Party. “He rightly received a fine that includes a penalty greater than the amount of campaign funds he stole.”

Cooper has represented the 14th Senate District since 1985. He failed to show for the today’s TREF hearing to attempt to defend or explain his actions.

“We would urge Sen. Cooper to completely pay his fine before soliciting one dollar more for his campaign fund, so that potential contributors in the 14th Senate District will not have to wonder if their donations might get diverted to pay Sen. Cooper’s fine,” Hobbs said.

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