Buckets of cash collected for a state legislative candidate during a major fundraising dinner put the Tennessee Democratic Party on the wrong side of state campaign finance regulations.Party officials decided to donate all the cash to charity after The Associated Press raised questions about their failure to gather the names of the people who put the money in the buckets.
Saturday's Jackson Day event was headlined by former President Bill Clinton and former Vice President Al Gore and attended by more than 3,000 people, including elected officials, political operatives and other partisans.
State Democratic Party Chairman Chip Forrester in his speech urged attendees to throw money into the buckets placed on every table to support Shelbyville Democrat Ty Cobb's efforts to be elected to the vacated House District 62 seat.
But Forrester forgot to remind people to fill out forms left next to the buckets asking for their names to go along with their contributions, said spokesman Keith Talley.
"We had the paperwork on the tables, it's just one of those mistakes," Talley said. "We're just going to donate it to a local charity."