Dave Boucher, and Joel Ebert

The Tennessean

Before becoming only the second lawmaker expelled from the Tennessee General Assembly since the Civil War, Jeremy Durham spent nearly $1,000 in campaign funds on University of Tennessee tickets.

Using campaign funds for personal purposes is against state law, and Durham is already under investigation by state campaign ethics officials for possibly breaking this law.

Durham's latest campaign finance report indicates he spent $956.20 on Aug. 7 for "tickets" purchased from "UT Special Events" in Knoxville. Durham, an avid UT sports fan, was recently kicked out of the football game between the Volunteers and the University of Florida after he hit a Gators fan in the face.

The purchase came three days after Sam Whitson handily defeated Durham in the GOP primary for the Williamson County seat that Durham had held since 2011.

Karen Ann Simsen, director of media and internal relations for the University of Tennessee, told The Tennessean on Thursday Durham purchased tickets for several football games prior to being ousted from the legislature.

"He officially was still in office," Simsen said.

"Every August we send a letter from the president's office to members of the General Assembly. We give them an opportunity to purchase two tickets per game, per home game and a couple of away games," Simsen said.

Simsen said lawmakers must pay full price, and they are required to show up in person when picking up their tickets in order to prevent reselling the tickets. While Simsen confirmed that Durham still has tickets for a few of the remaining home games, as of Thursday afternoon she was uncertain as to how many tickets the Franklin Republican had purchased overall. There are four more UT football home games.

Jeremy Durham's campaign invested in company of GOP donor

State campaign ethics investigators announced earlier this year they are looking into whether Durham used campaign funds for personal purposes.

Tennessee law expressly prohibits using campaign funds to purchase tickets to sporting events "unless the event is an expense associated with a legitimate campaign or officeholder activity, where the tickets to such event are provided to students attending schools, guests or constituents of the candidate or officeholder, or persons involved in the candidate's or officeholder's campaign."

After the Tennessee attorney general released a scathing report detailing inappropriate sexual contact by Durham toward at least 22 women in July, Durham denied the bulk of the accusations but announced he would suspend his re-election campaign. His latest campaign disclosure shows he spent more than $5,700 after suspending his campaign.

Apart from the tickets, Durham also gave $999 to the congressional campaign of state Sen. Brian Kelsey, who served as Durham's best man at his wedding and attended the football game where Durham was ousted.

Through a Senate spokesperson, Kelsey said, "I was fortunate to receive donations from hundreds and hundreds of donors."

Durham also spent $3,270 on "campaign workers," $269 on food and beverages and $102 on gas after suspending his campaign on July 14.

Ticket purchase rules haven’t stopped lawmakers from spending campaign money in order to attend NFL and NBA games in the past.

Lawmakers spent $30K of campaign funds on pro sports tickets

A 2015 Tennessean analysis found at least seven lawmakers combined to spend more than $30,000 in campaign money on tickets to professional sporting events since 2003. All were Democrats, including current U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen and recently convicted ex-state lawmaker Joe Armstrong.

State campaign ethics officials didn't immediately respond to requests for comment. Those officials have predicted their investigation into Durham's campaign finances will be completed before the end of the year. Investigations by the U.S. attorney and the Tennessee attorney disciplinary agency are also believed to still be underway.

Reach Dave Boucher at 615-259-8892 and on Twitter @Dave_Boucher1. Reach Joel Ebert at 615-772-1681 and on Twitter @joelebert29.