Highway Patrol officers want campaign contributions returned

Two demoted officers with the Tennessee Highway Patrol have asked for a return of their campaign contributions to Gov. Phil Bredesen.

Former Lt. Col. Larry Rucker was demoted from the agency’s No. 2 post to lieutenant in March, and Charles Laxton was demoted from captain to sergeant in May. The two men and their families had combined to give $15,600 to Bredesen’s election and re-election campaigns.

Rucker and Laxton are now posted in East Tennessee, and are both on sick leave.

The department’s promotion practices were criticized in the aftermath of a report by The Tennessean last year that two-thirds of Highway Patrol promotions went to officers who gave money to Bredesen’s campaign or had family members or political patrons who did.

The Tennessee Republican Party has been agitating for the governor to return all troopers’ contributions. The governor has said he will return contributions to any THP employee who asks for it.

Bredesen campaign spokesman Will Pinkston said the two officers are the only troopers to ask for their money back so far. The campaign has already sent out refunds for the 2006 cycle, and is working on getting the 2002 money back, he said.

“Most people, when they give money to campaigns, don’t expect to see that money again,” Pinkston said. “But given the questions, the governor wanted to bend over backward to make sure there are no doubts about his commitment to professionalizing the department.”

A study by security consultant Kroll Inc. released in March found that personnel matters at the Highway Patrol were “rife with political favoritism at the expense of competence.”