Stockard on the Stump: Dark-money complaint headed to Tennessee Election Finance Registry

The Tennessee Registry of Election Finance will consider a complaint from Chip Buck, a campaign surrogate for U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn, against the American Exceptionalism Institute for allegedly failing to register and using undisclosed AI in dark-money ads targeting Blackburn. The complaint, filed after the August gubernatorial primary, claims the group spent over $5,000 on ads linking Blackburn to pharmaceutical contributions, including a defamatory 'queen pharma mama' ad.