By ELIZABETH BEWLEY, Gannett Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON - Sen. Bob Corker added to his already impressive campaign bank account in the final months of 2011, further frustrating Tennessee Democrats seeking a viable challenger to take him on.
Corker's catering bills during the last three months of the year totaled more than the money raised during the entire year by all of the candidates running for his seat so far.
He raised just over $1 million from October through December, bringing his year-end fundraising total to more than $6.7 million, according to reports recently released by Federal Election Commission.
He spent $671,366 last year, leaving him with almost $7.4 million on Dec. 31.
Corker raised about 200 times as much as his best-funded challenger, Republican Zachary Scott Poskevich, who brought in $33,069. That included $23,069 from individual donors and $10,000 from a loan Poskevich made to his campaign.
Poskevich, a Hendersonville technology consultant and Army veteran, spent $23,692 last year and had $9,375 on Dec. 31.
In the last three months of 2011, nearly three-quarters of Corker's campaign contributions - $755,277 - came from individual donors, including some big names in Tennessee.
Gov. Bill Haslam and his wife, Crissy, each donated $2,700. The couple has donated $10,000 to Corker during this election cycle.
Haslam's father, Jim Haslam, founder of the travel-center chain Pilot Corporation, and Haslam's brother, Jimmy Haslam, Pilot's chief executive, each have contributed $5,000 to Corker's campaign. Jimmy Haslam was Corker's college roommate and his statewide campaign chairman in 2006.
Billy Frist, nephew of former Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, and his wife, Jennifer, each donated $2,500 to Corker's campaign last year.
Some of Corker's donors live out of state, particularly New York and the Washington, D.C. area. Many reported that they work for financial institutions, including Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America.
Corker, a member of the Senate Banking Committee, received more than $45,000 from the political action committees of banks and financial services companies during the last three months of 2011. Since his last election, he has received more than $1.1 million from individuals and PACs affiliated with the banking, securities, finance and credit card industries, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.
He has also received more than $665,000 from the health-care and pharmaceutical industries during that time. Nashville-based HealthSpring's PAC gave Corker $9,000 at the end of last year.
Corker spent nearly $260,000 in the last quarter of 2011. He paid $50,000 for consulting by the Nashville-based Ingram Group, whose founder, Tom Ingram, has run campaigns for Corker, Haslam, Republican Sen. Lamar Alexander and former Republican Sen. Fred Thompson.
Corker also spent more than $105,000 on campaign events during the last three months of 2011, including more than $89,000 for catering.
Republican James Patrick Durkan took in $9,395 last year - about two-thirds of that was self-funded - and had $3,165 remaining on Dec. 31. Democrat Larry Crim raised $6,200 in 2011 and had just $3 remaining