Rep. Andy Ogles (R-Tenn.), a conservative firebrand endorsed by President Trump, came up short Thursday in the Republican primary for Tennessee’s 5th Congressional District, marking the second loss of the week for a candidate backed by the commander-in-chief.
A flood of outside spending in the expansive and dramatically reshaped district, as well as an eleventh-hour endorsement by the governor, made Ogle’s race against former Tennessee Agriculture Commissioner Charlie Hatcher tougher than expected for the incumbent.
Ogles was down to Hatcher by a 46.8% to 53.2% vote when the Asssociated Press called the race.
Tennessee radically redrew the boundaries of Ogles’ 5th District – leaving just 17% of its previous iteration in place – after the Supreme Court’s landmark ruling weakening the Voting Rights Act.
The new map should make it easier for Republicans to keep the seat in November, but forced Ogles, who is no stranger to controversy, to convince new voters ahead of the primary.
The renewable energy industry hammered Ogles via $2 million in attack ads funded by the Invest in Tomorrow Coalition super PAC, which sought to make an example out of the congressman for his anti-green energy positions.
“We’re just getting started,” Tom Matzzie, the chairman of the super PAC, told Politico ahead of the election. “If Ogles manages to survive tonight we will stick on him through the general while taking this fight on the road to other races across the country.
Ogles was also outraised by Hatcher by more than $100,000. The former agriculture commissioner also received Tennessee GOP Gov. Bill Lee’s endorsement on Wednesday.
“Charlie has stood with President Trump since Day 1,” Lee said in a video posted on X, well after early voting had begun in the district.
On the campaign trail, Ogles bemoaned “being targeted by left-wing liberals from California because I am one of President Trump’s closest allies.”
“They want to stop Trump-endorsed MAGA warriors from delivering for the American people. This desperate attempt to SILENCE me is futile. I will not be silent and I will never stop fighting to put America First,” he said.
Ogles has been embroiled in a number of controversies since taking office in 2023.
Shortly after the 2023 Covenant School shooting outside Nashville, Ogles came under fire for previously posting a Christmas Day photo of him and his family proudly posing with weapons similar to the ones used by the shooter.
Ogles said he and his family were “devastated by the tragedy,” but when asked by NBC if he regretted sharing the photo from 2021, he replied: “Why would I regret a photograph with my family exercising my rights to bear arms?”
Ogles also deleted a homophobic social media post — which was denounced by the Republican Party in June — and faced backlash from the public from another post where he said, “Muslims don’t belong in American society.”
Last year, the congressman asked the Justice Department to investigate then-New York City Mayoral Candidate Zohran Mamdani’s naturalization paperwork over his alleged support for “jihadists … that funneled millions of dollars to Hamas.”
Ogles called on the Trump administration to denaturalize and “put [Mamdani] on the first flight back to Uganda,” if evidence of wrongdoing was found.
The representative also had his phone searched in 2024 by the FBI, after a watchdog group filed an ethics complaint into his campaign fund usage, and faced scrutiny for false claims about his resume in 2023.
Hatcher will be a heavy favorite in November in the deep red district, which is rated a solid Republican seat by the nonpartisan Cook Political Report.
Yolanda Cooper-Sutton, DeVante Hill and Rachel Hurley are competing for the Democratic nomination in the 5th District.
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