Jimmy Quillen - Controversies

Controversies

Quillen amassed a large campaign treasury due to having received many large individual and PAC contributions, including those well financed PACs representing the beer, wine, and spirits beverage industries. He never really needed to use it given the heavy Republican tilt of his district. Many political observers expected Quillen to retire before a change in federal election campaign finance laws made it illegal to convert the balance of campaign treasury funds to personal use by merely declaring them as income and paying the federal income tax then due; he did not do so and continued to seek re-election past the deadline.

Another important fact buttressing Quillen's re-election campaign finance efforts, according to Vin Weber of the Brookings Institution, was the Northeast Tennessee congressman's "...tremendous success...in shaking down the business community for contributions."