Stockard on the Stump: Campaign finance board hits former staffer with $80,000 penalty

By: Sam Stockard

Outlets: Tennessee Lookout

Published: January 23, 2026

Words: 1,712

Last Updated: 3 weeks, 3 days ago

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Former Tennessee House staffer Cade Cothren’s hopes of rising from the ashes of political despair took a dousing Thursday when the state’s campaign finance watchdog slapped him with an $80,000 civil penalty for misleading the state about a 2019 political action committee.

Attorneys for Cothren, who received a presidential pardon in December 2025 that cleared him of a separate conviction on federal fraud and bribery convictions, will appeal to an administrative law court or chancery …

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