Tennessee’s Bureau of Ethics and Campaign Finance has ordered the Sumner County Constitutional Republicans — known as SCCR — to register as a political action committee.
SUMNER COUNTY, Tenn. (WKRN) — Tennessee’s Bureau of Ethics and Campaign Finance (BECF) has ordered the Sumner County Constitutional Republicans — known as SCCR — to register as a political action committee (PAC).
The ruling was made on Tuesday in a unanimous vote. It comes after one Sumner County resident filed a complaint asserting that the SCCR fits the qualifications of a PAC and should be more transparent with who they financially support or endorse.
For one Sumner County commissioner, he said he saw the ruling as drawing a spotlight on a divisive group.
“They’re hiding in the shadows, you know?” commissioner Wes Wynne said. “This group has been operating as a PAC illegally — outside of the public’s eye.”
Wynne called his first two years on the board a “roller coaster.” He told News 2 that his outspoken nature made him a target of SCCR, an organization that has dubbed themselves “the accountability arm of the Republican Party.”
“When I see something I don’t like or I don’t agree with and I think is wrong, I’m going to call it out,” Wynne explained. “Everything can’t be a conspiracy theory, you know? It baffles me that everything has to be, ‘Oh, there’s some sinister plot behind the scenes!’”
Wynne said that disagreeing with the SCCR has caused significant blowback for him.
“You get to experience online bullying. You get to experience cancel culture. Then, there’s information that’s spread about you that’s false and misleading,” Wynne added, echoing a sentiment shared by others in Sumner County regarding the SCCR.
While Wynne said that he supported BECF’s ruling, he did not believe it would ultimately change much. He said that real change must come at the polls.
“What I see is this group is going to rebrand. It’s happened over time,” Wynne speculated about the SCCR. “Get out and vote. Your vote does count in a local election. It matters.”
“The public just doesn’t know the depths,” Wynne continued. “This has been years in the making, as to how everything is set up and how everything works and feeds on each other. There’s this influencing narrative that is very tailored to fit their agenda.”
The lawyer representing the SCCR in this case, Kirk Clements, shared a statement with News 2 in response to the PAC order. It reads, in part:
“The SCCR appreciates the finding by the Registry that the SCCR did not intentionally attempt to circumvent the law by not being a PAC and, thus, did not issue any penalties or sanctions against them. Being a PAC will actually be an advantage to the SCCR as they can accept unlimited funds and spend unlimited funds on the candidates they endorse. However, make no mistake, the SCCR & the TCR have never attempted to finance elections; they have only encouraged conservatives in their community to volunteer their time and support conservative candidates as they see fit. The good people of the SCCR are simply trying to improve their community; an effort at least one member of the Registry praised. Therefore, whether or not the SCCR becomes a PAC, the members’ efforts and mission will not change.”
The SCCR now has 45 days to register as an action committee.