Memphis

John Gillespie — 2024 Tennessee House, District 97 campaign

Tennessee House, District 97 Republican

2024 Tennessee House, District 97

Final This campaign’s election cycle is closed — no further reports for it are due, so these totals are settled rather than mid-race. They cover every filing we hold for the campaign; if the source archive later adds one, we load it. Full definition → · 8 filings · Mid-Year 2023–Q4 2024

Ended With What was left in the campaign’s account when its reporting closed — the ending balance on its final report for this race. It is a leftover, not a war chest: money still to be spent, refunded, given away, or carried into the next campaign. Full definition →
$2,504
as of the Q4 report
→ carried into 2026 TN House 97
Why this number?
Raised (cash) Cash and cash-like receipts the campaign took in: contributions, the candidate’s own money, loans, and transfers from affiliated committees. Donated goods and services are not cash; they appear separately as In-Kind Received. Bookkeeping entries such as a carried balance, accounting adjustment, or refund also stay only in the filing’s own totals. Full definition →
$261,205
Why this number?
In-Kind Received Goods or services donated to the campaign instead of cash — say, free printing or donated consulting — reported at fair-market value. Counted toward the same $200 disclosure threshold as cash gifts. Full definition →
$20,845
goods or services
Total Spent
$288,837
Why this number?
Spent of Cash Raised How much of the cash this campaign took in it went on to spend, measured now that its reporting has closed. Above 100% means it spent more than it raised for this race, drawing on money it already had when the cycle opened. Full definition →
110.5%
$288,837 spent of $261,205 raised (cash) · opened with $22,165
Donors
214
total donors; qualifying names are listed below
Out-of-State
4%
$10,950 from outside TN
Why this number?

Cash on hand is the amount reported on the filing listed below.

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The ending cash balance the campaign reported on its most recent filing (as filed, not computed).

Reported on this filing:
  • Q4 2024 Initial $2,504 filing-stated

Raised (cash) adds together the amounts listed below.

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Sum of every cash receipt bucket: itemized contributions from others + the candidate's own contributions + loans + filer-stated unitemized + (federal) transfers and other receipts. Excludes the value of donated goods & services, shown separately as In-Kind Received.

Inputs behind Raised (cash)
Itemized contributions from others $261,205
Raised (cash) $261,205
From each filing:
Show 3 more filings

Total spent adds together the amounts listed below.

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Itemized expenditure rows plus the stated spending a filer reported as a lump sum without itemizing it.

Inputs behind Total spent
Itemized expenditures $288,837
Total spent $288,837
From each filing:
Show 4 more filings

Out-of-state share compares itemized money from outside tennessee with raised incl. in-kind.

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Itemized contributions from a state other than Tennessee, divided by everything the campaign raised (shown only when the state of most itemized money is known — above 99% coverage).

Itemized money from outside Tennessee: $10,950 ÷ Raised incl. in-kind: $282,050
Inputs behind Out-of-state share
From outside Tennessee $10,950
Source filings:
Raised incl. in-kind
$282,050
Spent
$288,837

Who funds this campaign The sources split breaks down everything the campaign raised: the candidate’s own money (including self-loans), individuals (including unitemized small gifts), organizations and PACs, and “other” (in-kind contributions, loans other than the candidate’s, and the like) — open its “Why this number?” for the full breakdown. Gift-size and location figures cover itemized contributions only. Aggregates count everyone who gave, including donors below the $200 disclosure floor — a share across all donors identifies no one. Full definition →

Individuals gave 60%; organizations and PACs gave 32%; other sources made up 7%.

Individuals $171K · 60% Organizations & PACs $91K · 32% Other sources $21K · 7%
Why this number?

Share from individuals compares from individuals with everything the campaign raised.

Show formula

Everything the campaign raised, split into the candidate's own money (own contributions plus self- and family loans), individuals, organizations and PACs, and everything else — loans other than the candidate's, in-kind contributions, and (for federal filers) committee transfers and other receipts. Unitemized small donations count as individual money. The parts add up to the total raised. The headline share is individuals divided by the total.

From individuals: $170,505 ÷ Everything the campaign raised: $282,050
Inputs behind Share from individuals
From individuals $170,505
From organizations and PACs $90,700
In-kind contributions (goods & services) $20,845
Source filings:

Gift size Each individual donor’s total giving to this campaign this cycle. Organizations, PACs, and the candidate’s own money are excluded (this is about people); a donor who gave under several name spellings is counted once. A donor named on the page can still sit in a small bucket — these are cycle totals, not “unnamed donors.” Full definition →

$1,209average gift
$1,000median gift
141individual donors
Share of donors Share of dollars
Under $50
2%
0.1%
$50–200
13%
1%
$200–1K
33%
12%
$1K–5K
52%
87%
$5K+
0%
0%
Why this number?

Average gift per individual donor compares total from individual donors with individual donors.

Show formula

Every individual donor's total contributions to this campaign, divided by the number of individual donors. Organizations and PACs are excluded (this measures people); a donor who gave under several name spellings is counted once. The median and the gift-size buckets are computed over the same individual-donor totals. Based on itemized contributions only (loans and money a filer reported as an unitemized lump sum are not included).

Total from individual donors: $170,505 ÷ Individual donors: 141
Inputs behind Average gift per individual donor
Total from individual donors $170,505
Median gift $1,000
Individual donors 141
Source filings:

Where the money comes from Shares of itemized dollars, by the contributor’s state and city as filed. A city is named only when at least 5 donors gave from it or it holds at least 5% of the located dollars; everyone else is grouped into “elsewhere.” Shown only when at least 80% of dollars carry a usable state. Full definition →

96% of located dollars came from within Tennessee (4% from out of state).

Tennessee $250,255 Out of state $10,950
  • Memphis $160K61%
  • Nashville $44K17%
  • Germantown $10K4%
  • Brentwood $6K2%
  • Elsewhere in Tennessee $30K
  • Other out-of-state $11K
Why this number?

Out-of-state share of located dollars compares itemized money from outside tennessee with itemized money with a known state.

Show formula

Itemized contribution dollars from outside Tennessee, divided by all itemized dollars whose contributor state is known. A city is named only when at least 5 donors gave from it OR it holds at least 5% of the located dollars; everyone else is grouped into elsewhere-in-Tennessee and other-out-of-state. Shown only above 99% state coverage. Based on itemized contributions only (loans and money a filer reported as an unitemized lump sum are not included).

Itemized money from outside Tennessee: $10,950 ÷ Itemized money with a known state: $261,205
Inputs behind Out-of-state share of located dollars
From outside Tennessee $10,950
Source filings:

Contributions & Spending Over Time

Itemized monetary contributions and expenditures by month — Jan 2023 – Jan 2025. Peak $69,100 in Jun 2023. Spending peaked at $123,132 in Oct 2024.

Cash contributions Spent

Contributions

The donor total above includes everyone who gave. This table names donors whose cumulative giving reached $200. Smaller donors contributed $1,855 total; their names are not disclosed here.

Named donor list 276 donations

Campaign contributions consolidated by donor, ranked by net amount
Donor Donations Net
Tennessee Legislative Campaign Committee In-Kind 1 $10,765.00
CAM PAC (Cameron Sexton) Includes In-Kind 4 $10,500.00
Tennessee Eagle PAC 1 $5,000.00
Michael Keeney 2 $3,600.00
Craig Weiss 2 $3,600.00
Anne Keeney 2 $3,600.00
Cathy Weiss 2 $3,600.00
J R Hyde 2 $3,600.00
George Douglas Edwards 2 $3,600.00
Trow Gillespie 4 $3,600.00

Expenditures

89 vendors 296 payments

Campaign payments consolidated by vendor, ranked by total
Vendor Payments Total Share
Margin of Victory Partners 34 $107,218.00 37%
West Rogers Strategic Communications 4 $51,335.00 18%
Vor Media LLC 27 $24,800.00 9%
Southland Advantage 4 $16,210.93 6%
Beacon Strategies 6 $14,500.00 5%
Khokhar, Seth 6 $11,500.00 4%
Watkins Uiberall, PLLC 7 $9,450.00 3%
Marriott Memphis East 4 $5,581.07 2%
Salient Strategy & Design 5 $5,546.00 2%
Gti Tours 2 $5,490.00 2%

Where the money went Each expenditure carries a short description of what it was for, written by the campaign. We sort those descriptions into a fixed set of categories; one expenditure goes in one category, so the amounts add up to John Gillespie’s itemized spending. Descriptions that don’t clearly fit a category are counted under Other rather than guessed at.

  • Advertising & media $97,595 34%
  • Printing & mail $74,544 26%
  • Consulting & professional services $39,241 14%
  • Field & voter contact $28,370 10%
  • Fundraising & events $23,159 8%
  • Office & operations $8,281 3%
  • Contributions & donations $6,635 2%
  • Travel $5,888 2%
  • Other $5,122 2%

Filing History

Totals as filed with the Tennessee Registry of Election Finance; see About for how this data is processed.

Campaign filing history
Filing Cash Beginning Cash Ending Source
Q4 2024 $16,689.65 $2,504.12 Source ↗
Pre-General 2024 Amended $96,121.58 $16,689.65 Source ↗
Q3 2024 Amended $78,602.58 $96,121.58 Source ↗
Pre-Primary 2024 $85,849.06 $78,602.58 Source ↗
Q2 2024 $73,795.38 $85,849.06 Source ↗
Q1 2024 Amended $78,530.38 $73,795.38 Source ↗
Year-End 2023 Amended $79,004.45 $78,530.38 Source ↗
Mid-Year 2023 Amended $22,164.99 $79,004.45 Source ↗