However, polling seemed to indicate that one of the major factors with public support of Bredesen was his knowledge of this issue. Bredesen was also a moderate Democrat; Republican charges against "ultra-liberal Democrats" could not be made to stick to him with any real degree of success. Another problem for Hilleary was that Bredesen showed himself able to raise support in East Tennessee (Hilleary's home region) far more readily than could previous Democratic candidates, especially considering that Bredesen was from Nashville. In addition, questions were raised regarding Hilleary's performance as a member of the House Budget Committee. Hilleary nonetheless received over 48% of the vote. Bredesen defeated him largely by doing far better than expected in heavily Republican East Tennessee, an area where Democrats are not normally competitive except in statewide landslides. For instance, Bredesen carried Knox County, the largest county in East Tennessee, by a few hundred votes; in contrast, George W. Bush won Knox County two years later by over 40,000 votes. Shortly after the November 2004 election, Hilleary moved his family to Murfreesboro, just outside Nashville. He now lives there primarily on weekends and through the week was employed as a consultant in Washington, D.C. until December 2018. According to a disclosure of personal finances from 2004 and part of 2005, as required by his 2006 Senate candidacy, Hilleary made $300,000 in salary in 2004 from Washington lobbying firm Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal, and more than $150,000 in salary from the firm through August 12, 2005. One of his clients was the Lumbee Indian Tribe of North Carolina, which is seeking federal status from Congress and $77 million in funding for education, health care and economic development that would come with recognition. The tribe was recognized in 1956, but was not awarded the same monetary benefits given to other American Indian groups. Another client was Pennsylvania House Speaker John M. Perzel. Other clients listed by Hilleary included the American Academy of Ophthalmology, the American Association of Diabetes Educators, the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, Balfour Ventures, Federal-Mogul Corporation, L-3 Communications, SMS Holdings Corp. and VPI Technologies. On December 11, 2018, it was announced that Hilleary would be returning to Congress as the Chief of Staff for John Rose, Representative-elect for Tennessee's 6th congressional district which contains much of the former territory Hilleary had represented.