John Gillespie — 2026 Tennessee House, District 97 campaign
2026 Tennessee House, District 97 · totals since Jan 16, 2025
Won the nomination 5,924 votes · 100% reported results
Latest filing: Pre-General 2026 · Oct 26, 2026 · source: TN Registry of Election Finance
7 filings · Mid-Year 2025–Q3 2026
Cash on Hand The campaign’s ending cash balance from its most recent filing. Cash shown as “carried over” was held before this election cycle began — usually from a prior campaign for the same office. Full definition →
$20,586
$2,504 carried over
Receipts The sum of Total Receipts on the selected published reports. Open the receipt to check each report and any exclusions. Full definition →
$240,975
Loan entries in filing detail: $35,000. The report totals above govern this headline.
Total Spent
$222,893
Donors
153
total donors; qualifying names are listed below
Who funds this campaign The sources split breaks down the receipts the headline adds up, by the lines of each report behind it; its parts add up to the headline. Open its “Why this number?” for each report’s lines. 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 →
Largest part: individuals, itemized, 52% of receipts on these reports.
Individuals, itemized $124K · 52%Organizations and PACs, itemized $80K · 33%Loans, interest and other receipts, net of refunds $35K · 15%
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 →
$1,367average gift
$1,000median gift
91individual donors
Share of donors Share of dollars
Under $50
$50–200
$200–1K
$1K–5K
$5K+
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 →
91% of located dollars came from within Tennessee (9% from out of state).
Tennessee $185,600 Out of state $18,475
- Memphis $116K57%
- Nashville $28K14%
- Brentwood $8K4%
- Germantown $4K2%
- Elsewhere in Tennessee $30K
- Other out-of-state $18K
Contributions & Spending Over Time
Itemized monetary contributions and expenditures by month — Jan 2025 – Oct 2026. Peak $47,150 in Sep 2026. Spending peaked at $102,711 in Oct 2026.
Cash contributions Spent
Contributions
The donor total above includes everyone who gave. This table names 146 donors: organizations, and people whose cumulative giving reached $200. 8 people gave less than $200 in cash; their gifts total $725 and their names are withheld.
| Donor | Donations | Net |
|---|---|---|
| LAMBERTH PAC (William Lamberth) | 1 | $5,000.00 |
| Michael Keeney | 2 | $3,800.00 |
| Craig Weiss | 2 | $3,800.00 |
| Daniel Richards | 2 | $3,800.00 |
| Cathy Weiss | 2 | $3,800.00 |
| Tommie Dunavant | 3 | $3,800.00 |
| Elizabeth Gillespie | 3 | $3,800.00 |
| Charles Slatery | 2 | $3,800.00 |
| Chip Dudley | 2 | $3,800.00 |
| Stuart J Gillespie | 3 | $3,800.00 |
Dates
| Donor | Location | Employer | Amount | Date |
|---|
Expenditures
| Vendor | Payments | Total | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tennessee Republican Party | 9 | $52,626.00 | |
| West Rogers Strategic Communications | 2 | $30,000.00 | |
| Vor Media LLC | 12 | $26,000.00 | |
| Margin of Victory Partners | 16 | $22,150.00 | |
| Southland Advantage | 4 | $16,653.60 | |
| Watkins Uiberall, PLLC | 5 | $8,080.00 | |
| Dynamark | 3 | $7,338.76 | |
| Dexter, Blake | 4 | $7,250.00 | |
| Hines, Jeff | 1 | $5,000.00 | |
| Tennessee House Republican Caucus | 1 | $5,000.00 | |
| Anedot | 44 | $3,397.29 | |
| Capital Grille | 2 | $2,806.68 | |
| Goodson, Brenden | 7 | $2,710.00 | |
| Morelli, David Marty | 3 | $2,360.00 | |
| Carnival Memphis | 2 | $2,069.95 | |
| Forrest Spence Fund | 2 | $2,000.00 | |
| Ymca of Memphis and the Mid-South | 1 | $2,000.00 | |
| Edwards, Toddrick | 3 | $1,740.00 | |
| Laury, Dakarrionha | 3 | $1,740.00 | |
| Andy, Alvardo | 3 | $1,730.00 | |
| Oigbokie, Clement | 6 | $1,180.00 | |
| Pucketts Restaurant | 1 | $1,099.73 | |
| Refaat, Hamza | 5 | $1,090.00 | |
| Nashville City Club | 2 | $1,022.00 | |
| Kroger | 8 | $916.29 | |
| Republican Party of Shelby County | 2 | $879.64 | |
| Gaylord Opryland | 2 | $815.63 | |
| Cisneros, Any Alvarado | 1 | $750.00 | |
| The Tennessee Journal | 1 | $700.00 | |
| Alashmali, Abdul | 3 | $580.00 | |
| Zion, Cianne | 5 | $510.00 | |
| Porch and Parlor | 1 | $506.92 | |
| Shelby County Young Republicans | 1 | $500.00 | |
| Tractor Supply | 1 | $494.16 | |
| Offbeat | 1 | $468.00 | |
| Busters | 3 | $465.88 | |
| Singh, Aditya | 1 | $460.00 | |
| Mortimers Memphis | 5 | $434.34 | |
| Palmer Home for Children | 1 | $400.00 | |
| Tarantini Italian Restaurant | 1 | $379.99 | |
| Landsgaard, Joseph | 2 | $320.00 | |
| Southern Reins Center for Equine Therapy | 1 | $310.04 | |
| Raimov, Andreas | 1 | $300.00 | |
| Higareda, Roselyn | 5 | $300.00 | |
| Superlo Foods | 2 | $299.18 | |
| Pinnacle Bank | 5 | $285.00 | |
| Sekisui Pacific | 2 | $270.95 | |
| Pro Tech Security Inc. | 1 | $255.00 | |
| Parker, Jeffrey Kenneth | 3 | $250.00 | |
| Hog and Hominy | 2 | $245.12 | |
| Restaurant Iris | 1 | $224.05 | |
| Acre Restaurant | 1 | $214.59 | |
| Target | 3 | $214.50 | |
| Taylor, William | 3 | $200.00 | |
| High Point Grocery | 3 | $181.64 | |
| Robertson Jr, William Wilson | 3 | $180.00 | |
| Murphree, Brian | 2 | $180.00 | |
| French, Katherine | 2 | $180.00 | |
| Libro At Laurelwood | 1 | $169.64 | |
| Hen House | 1 | $142.67 | |
| Gannett | 5 | $139.93 | |
| T.J. Maxx | 1 | $133.19 | |
| Downen, Rachel | 1 | $120.00 | |
| Half Shell | 1 | $114.93 | |
| Sob Hospitality | 1 | $113.34 | |
| Bailey, Kennedy | 2 | $110.00 | |
| Firebirds Wood Fired Grill | 1 | $101.40 | |
| The Second Line | 1 | $76.57 | |
| Republican Women of Purpose | 1 | $72.00 | |
| Folks Folly | 1 | $72.00 | |
| Costco | 1 | $65.00 | |
| Trader Joes | 1 | $63.96 | |
| Hueys | 1 | $60.30 | |
| Jacques, Rachel | 1 | $60.00 | |
| Shell | 2 | $53.52 | |
| Ronald Reagan Washington Airport | 2 | $43.59 | |
| Panera Bread | 2 | $32.90 | |
| L and C Garage | 1 | $28.88 | |
| The Half Shell | 1 | $28.87 | |
| Whole Foods | 1 | $27.43 | |
| United States Postal Service | 2 | $26.55 | |
| Master Concession Air | 1 | $26.20 | |
| Char Restaurant | 1 | $25.85 | |
| Love's | 1 | $25.36 | |
| Central BBQ | 1 | $22.46 | |
| Pilot | 1 | $21.19 | |
| Belmont Grill | 1 | $20.26 | |
| Einstein Bros Bagels | 1 | $20.15 | |
| Jackson, Maliyah | 1 | $20.00 | |
| Diaz, Geoffrey | 1 | $20.00 | |
| Bulick, Mia Riley | 1 | $20.00 | |
| City Silo and Pantry | 1 | $18.93 | |
| Gaslight Wine and Spirits Inc. | 1 | $18.50 | |
| Paradox Catering and Consulting LLC | 1 | $18.40 | |
| FedEx Office | 1 | $12.75 | |
| 2 | $10.96 | ||
| Chickafila | 1 | $6.56 | |
| Bogies Delicatessen | 1 | $6.24 | |
| Apple | 1 | $5.46 | |
| McDonald's | 1 | $2.39 |
Dates
| Payee | Location | Purpose | Amount | Date |
|---|
Loans
$35,000.00 in loan balances shown. The filings date all of it to this campaign. Later reports can repeat an outstanding loan, so each reconstructed lender balance is counted once below.
| Lender | Type | Received | Balance shown | Repaid | Outstanding |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Self (John Gillespie) | Candidate loan | Jun 10, 2026 | $35,000.00 | $0.00 | $35,000.00 |
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 $62,757 28%
- Printing & mail $62,003 28%
- Fundraising & events $26,911 12%
- Consulting & professional services $24,830 11%
- Field & voter contact $17,735 8%
- Office & operations $11,761 5%
- Other $8,911 4%
- Contributions & donations $7,042 3%
- Travel $943 0.5%
Loans
| Lender | Amount | Date Received | Outstanding | Repaid |
|---|
Each loan shows its balance as of the candidate's most recent filing; repayments since then appear when the next report is filed.
Filing History
Totals as filed with the Tennessee Registry of Election Finance; see About for how this data is processed.
| Filing | Cash Beginning | Cash Ending | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pre-General 2026 | $84,072.13 | $20,585.86 | Source: Pre-General 2026 filing Report 129901 |
| Q3 2026 | $74,788.48 | $84,072.13 | Source: Q3 2026 filing Report 129023 |
| Pre-Primary 2026 | $47,339.06 | $74,788.48 | Source: Pre-Primary 2026 filing Report 127549 |
| Q2 2026 Amended | $18,250.19 | $47,339.06 | Source: Q2 2026 filing Report 127180 |
| Q1 2026 | $30,212.98 | $18,250.19 | Source: Q1 2026 filing Report 124856 |
| Year-End 2025 | $11,455.86 | $30,212.98 | Source: Year-End 2025 filing Report 123239 |
| Mid-Year 2025 | $2,504.12 | $11,455.86 | Source: Mid-Year 2025 filing Report 121704 |