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Former Chattanooga Mayor Bob Corker is headed for a U.S. Senate showdown with Democrat Harold Ford Jr. in November after sweeping to the Republican nomination on Thursday night. Corker celebrated the win for the seat now held by Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist at the Sheraton Read House in Chattanooga. He had fought a bloody primary against former Congressmen Ed Bryant and Van Hilleary, who made concession speeches. In Hamilton County, Corker piled up 20,555 votes to 5,863 for Bryant and 3,919 for Hilleary. The Nashville Tennessean, with 1,762 of 2,432 precincts statewide reporting, had Corker at 175,092, Bryant at...

Bob Corker looks like he'll be the winner in the US Senate Primary in Tennessee, while Van Hilleary has already conceded.

I remember hearing something that President Ronald Reagan once (well, actually, a lot more than once) said. He described it as the "Eleventh Commandment" of GOP politics: "Thou shalt not speak ill of a fellow Republican." The point behind this Reagan quote is the topic of this week's commentary. Here of late, in Tennessee's GOP U.S. Senatorial primary, it seems that this "political commandment" has been thrown to the wolves. Not a day goes by that I don't see, hear and/or read one of the top three GOP contenders doing a little morality sniping at one or both of the...

Link Returns should start around 8:30pm EST.

NASHVILLE - While much attention and money have been focused on air attacks in the Republican U.S. Senate primary, the outcome of today's election could hinge on a much quieter "ground war." Collectively, the campaigns of Ed Bryant, Bob Corker and Van Hilleary have made close to 2 million phone calls to voters, based on figures provided by spokesmen for the three candidates. Each candidate has also had hundreds of volunteers knocking on thousands of doors at voter homes, making a personal pitch for votes when someone answers and leaving behind a flier when no one is at home. The...

I remain skeptical about polling results in a Republican primary. A statewide poll includes Democrats, independents and the occasional liar. But there have been several polls recently which, taken together, suggest Bob Corker has been leading in the Senate primary. I predicted earlier that Ed Bryant and Van Hilleary would not split the conservative vote evenly, but one of them would break out near election time. I thought it might be Hilleary, given his higher name recognition at the start of the race. State Rep. Chris Clem, the sage of Chattanooga, agreed with my analysis but said Bryant would be...

Republican Bob Corker reported giving another $420,000 in personal money to his U.S. Senate campaign on Thursday, while Van Hilleary belatedly filed a personal disclosure revealing $336,000 in income from a Washington law and lobbying firm. Corker's latest contribution to his own campaign brings his total self-funding to almost $2.2 million. As of July 14, Corker had also reported raising $6.5 million from others. The total of $8.7 million puts Corker on track toward setting a record for spending on a U.S. Senate campaign in Tennessee. That will almost certainly be the case if he wins the Aug. 3 primary....

Republican U.S. Senate candidate Bob Corker traveled to Washington on Tuesday to collect contributions from political action committees and others, prompting opponents in both political parties to accuse him of hypocrisy. As campaigns of both major primary foes noted, Corker has made a theme of referring to Ed Bryant and Van Hilleary - former congressmen who have both served as lobbyists - as "Washington insiders" and "career politicians." U.S. Rep. Harold Ford Jr., the presumptive Democratic Senate nominee, said Corker "has been the loudest" of all Republicans in criticizing him for raising money outside of Tennessee. "Hypocrisy, thy name is...

A University of Tennessee poll conducted earlier this month shows Bob Corker holds leads over his Republican primary rivals and Democratic U.S. Rep. Harold Ford Jr. in the state's U.S. Senate race, though one in five voters is undecided. Races between Ford, the presumptive Democratic nominee, and Corker's Republican opponents, former congressmen Van Hilleary and Ed Bryant, would be a statistical dead-heat, according to the poll of 501 registered voters. Corker's GOP opponents say the polling is flawed and conducted before their own television ads have had a chance to take effect. Corker, former mayor of Chattanooga, is the preference...

NASHVILLE — Republican U.S. Senate candidate Bob Corker revealed today that he has put more than $1.7 million of his own money into his campaign. Under federal campaign financing laws, that triggers the so-called "millionaires amendment" and means that other candidates in the GOP primary may now raise and spend more money. There are two main effects: The normal $2,100 per person, per election limit on campaign donations to candidates is lifted. According to Jennifer Coxe, campaign manager for Van Hilleary, the formula involved means that Corker's opponents may now receive up to $12,600 from each donor. Federal law also...

The Bob Corker for Senate campaign on Tuesday released a survey of 600 likely Republican voters that showed Bob Corker with 46% of the vote, Ed Bryant 24% and Van Hilleary 17%. The poll was completed this past Thursday, the evening before early voting began, Corker officials said. Glen Bolger, the Corker campaign’s pollster, said, “These results make it clear that Bob Corker remains in the driver’s seat for the Republican nomination. Both Ed Bryant and Van Hilleary have yet to offer voters a compelling positive reason to support their candidacies, and as result trail by significant margins as voters...

WASHINGTON - Tennessee's Senate race has caught the attention of national political parties because some observers think the contest could determine who controls the U.S. Senate. Democrats need to pick up six seats to win control of the Senate, and under many scenarios, the Tennessee race would be a crucial part of the electoral math. The seat is open because Republican Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist is stepping down to keep a term-limit pledge and weigh a presidential run. The likely Democratic nominee, Rep. Harold Ford, is a Memphis Democrat hoping to move from the House to the Senate. He...

The debate you might see among the three Republican U.S. Senate candidates if Democrat Harold Ford Jr. were thrown in for added entertainment value: The moderator would begin by explaining the rules, namely that the candidates will take turns posing questions, which may be directed at one of the other candidates, though each will have an opportunity to respond. The moderator would intervene only when he deems - in his sole and exclusive judgment - that moderation is in order. The right to ask the opening question, reasonably, is determined by a random drawing that Ed Bryant won. After that,...

Larry, Curly and Moe, they ain't. Ed, Bob and Van - Bryant, Corker and Hilleary, respectively - were deadly serious about staking out their differences during Thursday's televised debate at West High School. The three Republicans running for the U.S. Senate metaphorically poked eyes, slapped faces and cracked skulls during the hourlong forum, but they took exception to the presumptive Democratic nominee's characterization of them as "The Three Stooges." After listening to a recording of a radio broadcast during which U.S. Rep. Harold Ford Jr. said, "The Stooges are funny, but you can't take them seriously," Hilleary responded with a...

Memphis Democrat's description of them as 'The Three Stooges' KNOXVILLE -- Larry, Curly and Moe, they ain't. Ed, Bob and Van -- Bryant, Corker and Hilleary, respectively -- were deadly serious about staking out their differences during Thursday's televised debate in Knoxville. The three Republicans running for the U.S. Senate metaphorically poked eyes, slapped faces and cracked skulls during the hour-long forum, but they took exception to the presumptive Democratic nominee's characterization of them as "The Three Stooges." After listening to a recording of a radio broadcast during which U.S. Rep. Harold Ford Jr. of Memphis said, "The Stooges are...

Tennessee's rough-and-tumble Republican primary will roll into Knoxville on Thursday for a televised debate on the eve of early voting. The campaign has turned bitter over the candidates' conservative credentials, with former U.S. Reps. Van Hilleary and Ed Bryant attacking former Chattanooga Mayor Bob Corker as a closet moderate. The three GOP hopefuls will square off in a televised debate at West High School on Thursday. Early voting begins Friday morning. The winner will face U.S. Rep. Harold Ford Jr., the presumptive Democratic nominee, in the November general election. Hilleary and Bryant have hammered the well-funded Corker, alleging he has...

Chattanooga -- It's possible that some Democratic voters could cross party lines and vote for Republican U.S. Senate candidate Bob Corker in the primary Aug. 3. But that's not a possibility Corker's campaign is willing to discuss. "Our efforts and energies are focused on taking Bob's message of using conservative principles to achieve positive results to Republican primary voters, getting their vote and ensuring that we will be the Republican nominee," campaign director Todd Womack said in a statement. Corker is already trying to fight off accusations from his primary opponents — former congressmen Van Hilleary and Ed Bryant —...

The Three Stooges of slapstick comedy fame occasionally dabbled in politics, such as an episode called "Three Dark Horses." Here in Tennessee, it seems politicians occasionally dabble in slapstick, as illustrated in an episode of last week's U.S. Senate campaign. The script opened with Harold Ford Jr., at a gathering of Tennessee Democrats, tossing a figurative pie into GOP faces. He likened the current Republican U.S. Senate candidates to the Three Stooges. Ford, assured of winning the Democratic nomination without being elbowed and gouged during a primary campaign, refused to identify which candidate represents which Stooge character in his comparison....

Van Hilleary, the Republican nominee for governor in 2002, showed what a scrapper he can be at the first televised debate of the three major U.S. Senate candidates in the GOP primary on Aug. 3. In fact, the former congressman and Gulf War veteran was downright feisty at Thursday's debate sponsored by WATE, Channel 6, at the University of Tennessee. His opponents, former U.S. Rep. Ed Bryant and former Chattanooga Mayor Bob Corker, pretty much stuck to the script they've developed for their campaigns. Corker's opening statement sounded like one of his TV commercials. The candidates sounded alike on many...

NASHVILLE - Bob Corker's major opponents in the Republican U.S. Senate primary are questioning whether the wealthy businessman is trying to hide something by refusing to release details of his federal income tax returns. Corker, who reported income of almost $5 million to the IRS last year, said that is not the case, and he has "provided all the information any voter or citizen would want to know." In response to News Sentinel requests, all three major GOP Senate candidates provided several years of basic federal 1040 income tax return forms for review. Ed Bryant and Van Hilleary, who both...