Team Tennessee, Sure — If Tennessee Now Includes D.C., Florida, Illinois, and Half the Country
Team Tennessee PAC isn’t funded by Tennesseans—it’s powered by money from Florida, Illinois, D.C., and beyond. A TruthWire analysis shows a national donor network shaping Tennessee politics while grassroots conservatives are pushed aside.
When Team Tennessee PAC quietly appeared on the campaign finance scene in January 2025, it did not look like a grassroots Tennessee operation. It looked like something far more polished — a professionally assembled political instrument built by and for the state’s most entrenched political consultants. According to filings reviewed by TruthWire, the PAC was seeded with $25,000 from Franklin businessman Peter Bray and $5,000 from longtime GOP consultant Ward Baker, founder of Baker Strategies and a political strategist closely connected to Sen. Marsha Blackburn and numerous establishment Republicans including Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson. The treasurer of record is Katie Reid. From its very first day, the PAC bore the fingerprints of Tennessee’s professional political class.
The money that flowed into the PAC over the next several months only reinforced that impression. By mid-year, Team Tennessee PAC had reported roughly $676,000 in contributions — but barely half of that came from inside Tennessee. Over 52% of the PAC’s funding originated outside the state. Florida alone accounted for over $191,000, mostly from wealthy donors concentrated in Vero Beach, Miami Beach, and Boca Raton. Illinois supplied another $55,000, including a single $50,000 check from an investor in Winnetka. Additional contributions came from Arkansas, Texas, Virginia, Colorado, Alaska, Minnesota, Missouri, Massachusetts, Oregon, Arizona, Georgia, Mississippi, California, North Carolina, and elsewhere.
For a PAC named “Team Tennessee,” the financial foundation appears distinctly national — and not a little Washington-centric.
