Republican Gubernatorial Candidate Appeared To Help Own Cause with Senatorial Sponsorship of Provision

Tennessee Senator Jim Bryson (R-Franklin), who declared his candidacy for the Governor's Office this week, added a provision to Tennessee's law earlier this year to blackout the governor's office fundraising efforts until May 15, according to the Nashville City Paper. Bryson told the NCP that, when he sponsored the amendment, he had "no intentions" of running, a claim which I find rather hard to believe based on the grooming and long-term considerations that go into running for such a high executive post. Nonetheless, what we have here is at least the appearance of a conflict of interests even if appearances are not always what they seem. Perhaps Sen. Bryson should have passed the spear for the blackout amendment to another leader for passage in order to avoid the appearance of impropriety.