Stewart romps Stansell in fund-raising fight for Briley’s House seat

Mike Stewart has out raised his primary competitor Eric Stansell in the first-quarter fund-raising race to fill Rob Briley's House seat. File

A partner at the well-connected law firm Waller Lansden Dortch & Davis has raised almost six-times as much money as a self-employed local attorney in the race to replace embattled outgoing State Rep. Rob Briley.

During the first quarter of 2008, Mike Stewart received $26,000 in contributions from 34 different attorneys at Waller Lansden, composing about 40 percent of his fund-raising total, $65,643. His opponent, Eric Stansell, has raised just $11,595, including an $8,100 loan from himself.

The race has gotten chippy, with Stewart’s campaign questioning Stansell’s Democratic credentials and voting record and Stansell saying he thought the volume of Stewart’s contributions from Waller Lansden presented at least the appearance of a conflict of interest.

“It is great to have friendships and that kind of thing,” Stansell said, “but when you have that much overwhelming financial support, they obviously are going to expect something. That’s not to say that Mike will pay them with that. But there is obviously going to be an appearance of impropriety on any bill that Waller Lansden is associated with.”

Stewart said he would resign from the firm if elected and there would be no conflict of interest.

“I have worked at this firm for many years and have many close personal friends at this firm,” he said. “Not surprisingly, they have supported me.”

Stewart has also received $12,020 in contributions from 27 other Nashville-area attorneys. He has spent $14,356.42 so far on his campaign, compared with Stansell, who has spent $6,317.62.

The race for the 52nd district, which covers East Nashville but also hooks around to include some of Green Hills, essentially will wrap up with the August primary since both Stewart and Stansell are Democrats. (An independent candidate, Dan Scott, is on the ballot but is not actively campaigning.) With both focusing on most of the same issues — above all, education, along with crime, the environment and the economy — voters will likely base their decisions more on the candidates’ backgrounds, Stansell said.

Although both are lawyers, there are substantial differences.

Stewart, 43, grew up in Knoxville and went to law school at the University of Tennessee after returning from service with the U.S. Army. He joined Waller Lansden in 1994 and became a partner in 2001. He now advises clients — often large corporations — on complex tax and regulatory issues. Recently, he won Eastman Chemical Company a $1.3 million tax refund before the Tennessee Supreme Court.

He ran for the 52nd district seat in 1996 but lost to former Nashville Mayor Bill Boner.

Stansell, 35, grew up in Athens, Tenn., and he received a law degree and an M.B.A. from the University of Tennessee. He interned with the office of Republican Gov. Don Sundquist in 1995 and with the office of President Bill Clinton later that same year. He has worked for the Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance, and he now advises clients on business and regulatory matters. He described much of his work as consumer advocacy.

Stewart has stressed his connection with the district, where he has lived since 1994. He has raised his three children there and served as president of the Lockeland Springs Neighborhood Association.

Stansell, on the other hand, has stressed his experience working in state government and for consumers against big businesses.

Despite his substantial fund-raising lead, Stewart and his campaign manager, Elizabeth M-K Sullivan, are on the offensive, providing The City Paper with an analysis of Stansell’s voting records from 1991 to 2004 while he was registered in McMinn County. Stewart’s campaign contends that Stansell did not vote in numerous elections, including the 1996 and 2000 presidential primaries, and that Stansell voted Republican in the 1992 presidential primary.

Stansell was in school earning his B.A., M.B.A. and law degree from the University of Tennessee from 1992 to 2001, and he voted whenever he could, he said. Some of that time he was overseas, including during the 1996 primary when he was studying at The University of Oxford in England. When he voted Republican in the 1992 presidential primary, he was a senior in high school.

“My parents were both Democrats, and it was my way of rebelling, I guess,” he said, adding, “To be honest, if that’s the best they have, I’m in great shape. I think that really shows more than anything else that I went to college, and, the more I’ve learned, the more progressive I’ve gotten. I think you want a representative who learns and can be taught. I just think it’s not an issue ultimately. If they want to make it an issue, that’s fine. That’s easily defensible.”