Signaling the ramp-up of his effort to secure re-election, Rep. Chuck Fleischmann announced Thursday the designation of prominent Chattanooga businessman Tom Decosimo to serve as finance chairman for his campaign.
Decosimo, principal at Decosimo Certified Public Accountants and long-time Republican donor, has a history of business with Fleischmann and has been a vocal supporter of the congressman since he came into office in 2010. His position is unpaid and will consist of being a catalyst for raising funds for Fleischmann across the 3rd District.
In a phone interview, Decosimo said he would be taking an active role in helping the congressman add to the base of more than $500,000 already raised for his campaign, and he quickly mentioned the congressman's most significant challenger so far, Weston Wamp. Fourth-quarter fundraising figures have yet to be revealed, but Wamp has said he will report more than $250,000 cash-on-hand raised during the three-month period at some point next week.
"Unfortunately for us, we've got a race on our hands," Decosimo said. "Weston I'm sure is going to run an aggressive campaign, and there's no taking that away. My role in this campaign will be solidifying financial contributions across the district and solidifying support for Chuck. He's not taking anything for granted, and that's why he's asked me to come on board."
Despite Decosimo's steady financial support for political campaigns run by Wamp's father, former Rep. Zach Wamp, the 24-year-old challenger said the news of his addition to Fleischmann's team came as no surprise.
At the onset of his candidacy, Wamp said he received an email from Decosimo, wishing him the best in his venture but reserving his support for Fleischmann.
"There's a clear explanation," Wamp said. "He said he had a tremendous amount of respect for my family and I, but that he was going to stay loyal to Chuck. I think that comes as no surprise, that he's being loyal to his former business associate."
Wamp was referring to Fleischmann's work as a collections attorney for Decosimo's firm for several years, a fact Decosimo did not deny, but quickly added was a "non-issue" to his role in the campaign. Decosimo said that his background in business with Fleischmann had nothing to do with his support.
"The fact that he did collection for this firm is no big deal; it's just not an issue," he said. "We absolutely did use him though, and he was very effective at what he did. That had nothing to do with my support for Chuck until the last go-round, though, when I evaluated the field and decided he was the most qualified person to run. The fact that he was the collections attorney, on a scale of one to 10, would rank at maybe a two."
Reasoning aside, the addition of Decosimo to Fleischmann's team indicates a shift in the 3rd District race, as candidates begin to assemble their teams for an all-out sprint to the Aug. 2 primary. Wamp said he had already taken steps to hire a campaign manager but had not yet decided if his campaign would add a finance manager similar to Decosimo's position.
"As far as a finance chair goes, we'll see," Wamp said. "It's a figurehead position, and my campaign is not that traditional."
Along with Wamp, Dr. Jean Howard-Hill and Ron Bhalla are candidates for the Republican primary. Both Bill Taylor and Mary Headrick are running as Democrats.