Widow of prominent GOP fundraiser to co-host event for Democrat Phil Bredesen's Senate campaign

WASHINGTON – Colleen Conway-Welch says she’s still a Republican, even though she’s opening the doors of her Nashville home for a fundraiser for Democrat Phil Bredesen’s Senate campaign.

Conway-Welch, a former dean of Vanderbilt University’s nursing school and the widow of prominent Republican fundraiser Ted Welch, said Thursday she decided to co-host next week’s event for Bredesen because it’s what her husband would have wanted.

“Ted had a great deal of respect for Phil,” Conway-Welch said. “He said to me, ‘If Phil ever runs for something, help him.’ That’s what I’m doing.”

“If Ted hadn’t asked me to, I most likely would not,” she added. “I just know how fond he was of Phil.”

Read more: https://www.commercialappeal.com/story/news/politics/2018/02/15/widow-prominent-gop-fundraiser-co-host-event-democrat-phil-bredesens-senate-campaign/342756002/