Groups lobbying Tennessee lawmakers spent $725,000 last year on 96 events, the Nashville Business Journal reports. That is a record amount in Tennessee, according to reports from the Knoxville News Sentinel. For comparison, groups spent $650,000 in 2013 and $565,318 in 2012.

Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam is now the richest elected official in America, the Nashville Business Journal reports. Thanks to falling gas prices, Forbes reports that Haslam's net worth has more than doubled since August 2014, from $980 million to a now estimated $2 billion. The heir of the Pilot Flying J truck stop founder, Haslam owns 15 percent of the $38 billion company.

Memphis attorney and city council member Jim Strickland yesterday announced his mayoral candidacy, challenging incumbent AC Wharton who has held the office sine 2009. WREG notes that Memphis has not elected a white mayor since Willie Herenton beat Dick Hackett in 1991 by 146 votes. Strickland said he is not concerned about race being an issue. Voters will make their choice Oct. 8.

Mary Mancini became the second woman to lead the Tennessee Democratic Party Saturday, after a nearly unanimous vote of 61 to 9 by the party's executive committee, the Nashville Scene reports. Mancini, a longtime liberal activist and former state Senate primary candidate, defeated Lenda Sherrell who had mounted an unsuccessful challenge to U.S. Rep. Scott DesJarlais last year. In addition, Executive Committee member John Litz was elected vice chair while Gail Jones Carson and Wade Munday were re-elected to their respective posts as secretary and treasurer.

Rep. Scott DesJarlais is one of a handful of Republicans who broke ranks to vote against John Boehner for House speaker, Nooga reports. In a statement, the conservative from Tennessee's Fourth District said his vote for another Ohio congressman, Jim Jordan, was in response to thousands of calls his office received. “Speaker Boehner has certainly accomplished a lot during his tenure ... However, I join my constituents in their belief that we need a new direction and a fresh approach,” he said. Boehner received 216 of 408 votes cast to remain speaker.

In less than a month, Gov. Bill Haslam embarks on possibly the biggest political challenge of his career: trying to pass "Insure Tennessee," his plan to use federal Medicaid expansion dollars to create new health programs for an estimated 200,000 lower-income Tennesseans. Haslam said his plan is not traditional Medicaid expansions, but emphasizes personal responsibility, requiring Tennessee residents newly eligible for some publicly financed health coverage to take an active role in making better health care decisions. Not all Republicans are behind the plan, however. Republicans have the numbers to get any bill passed without any Democrats supporting it, but if there are enough Republicans opposed to any plan, Democratic support in the House will be key, the Tennessean reports.

The Tennessee Republican Party spent more money helping elect candidates in Colorado and North Carolina than the Tennessee Democratic Party spent to elect its own candidates in the days leading up to the Nov. 4 election, the Tennessean reports. The state GOP sent $108,664 to the Colorado Republican Party on Oct. 17 and $22,000 to North Carolina's GOP on Oct. 30. In comparison Tennessee Democrats spent about $104,000 in the days leading up to and immediately after the general election, according to federal election filings. All told, the Tennessee GOP spent more than $220,000 to elect candidates in states where there were competitive races for U.S. Senate. In each of those states, the Republican won, helping the GOP move into the majority in the nation's upper chamber.

Metro Nashville Councilman At-Large Jerry Maynard has decided not to run for Nashville mayor, WKRN reports. Maynard, who is a pastor, government relations consultant and frequent contributor on News 2’s “This Week with Bob Mueller,” cited family obligations as the reason for his decision.

Former state Rep. Gloria Johnson is withdrawing from the race for state Democratic Party chair saying that she is in talks with Organizing for America to take over as Tennessee director for the group, Knoxnews reports. Johnson was on a list recommended by a special committee to the Democratic Party Executive Committee, whose members will select a a new chair Jan. 10. Others in the race are Knoxville lawyer Terry Adams, former state Senate candidate Mary Mancini of Nashville and Lenda Sherrell, a Fourth Congressional District candidate who lost in November. Whoever is selected will replace Roy Herron, who announced in September he would not seek a second term. Herron’s wife, Nancy Miller-Herron, revealed Sunday that Herron suffered a heart attack Dec. 1 but is recuperating well. The paper has that story as well.

Howard Gentry and Jerry Maynard reportedly are weighing whether to run for mayor of Nashville, the Tennessean reports. Either one would be the first African-American to join the race. Maynard, a term-limited at-large Metro councilman, pastor and political consultant, said he would make an announcement next week. Gentry, former Nashville vice mayor and Davidson County Criminal clerk, said he has no timeline. There are six in the running so far for the August 2015 election, including real estate executive Bill Freeman who confirmed his mayoral run last week.