Rep. Andy Ogles (R-Tenn.), a conservative firebrand endorsed by President Trump, got here up brief Thursday within the Republican main for Tennessee’s fifth Congressional District, marking the second lack of the week for a candidate backed by the commander-in-chief.
A flood of outdoor spending within the expansive and dramatically reshaped district, in addition to an eleventh-hour endorsement by the governor, made Ogle’s race in opposition to former Tennessee Agriculture Commissioner Charlie Hatcher more durable than anticipated for the incumbent.
Ogles was all the way down to Hatcher by a 46.8% to 53.2% vote when the Asssociated Press known as the race.
Tennessee radically redrew the boundaries of Ogles’ fifth District – leaving simply 17% of its earlier iteration in place – after the Supreme Courtroom’s landmark ruling weakening the Voting Rights Act.
The brand new map ought to make it simpler for Republicans to maintain the seat in November, however pressured Ogles, who is not any stranger to controversy, to persuade new voters forward of the first.
The renewable vitality trade hammered Ogles by way of $2 million in assault advertisements funded by the Put money into Tomorrow Coalition tremendous PAC, which sought to make an instance out of the congressman for his anti-green vitality positions.
“We’re simply getting began,” Tom Matzzie, the chairman of the tremendous PAC, advised Politico forward of the election. “If Ogles manages to outlive tonight we are going to stick on him by way of the overall whereas taking this combat on the street to different races throughout the nation.
Ogles was additionally outraised by Hatcher by greater than $100,000. The previous agriculture commissioner additionally acquired Tennessee GOP Gov. Invoice Lee’s endorsement on Wednesday.
“Charlie has stood with President Trump since Day 1,” Lee stated in a video posted on X, nicely after early voting had begun within the district.
On the marketing campaign path, Ogles bemoaned “being focused by left-wing liberals from California as a result of I’m considered one of President Trump’s closest allies.”
“They wish to cease Trump-endorsed MAGA warriors from delivering for the American individuals. This determined try to SILENCE me is futile. I cannot be silent and I’ll by no means cease preventing to place America First,” he stated.
Ogles has been embroiled in numerous controversies since taking workplace in 2023.
Shortly after the 2023 Covenant Faculty capturing exterior Nashville, Ogles got here underneath hearth for beforehand posting a Christmas Day photograph of him and his household proudly posing with weapons much like those utilized by the shooter.
Ogles stated he and his household had been “devastated by the tragedy,” however when requested by NBC if he regretted sharing the photograph from 2021, he replied: “Why would I remorse {a photograph} with my household exercising my rights to bear arms?”
Ogles additionally deleted a homophobic social media publish — which was denounced by the Republican Occasion in June — and confronted backlash from the general public from one other publish the place he stated, “Muslims don’t belong in American society.”
Final yr, the congressman requested the Justice Division to examine then-New York Metropolis Mayoral Candidate Zohran Mamdani’s naturalization paperwork over his alleged assist for “jihadists … that funneled tens of millions of {dollars} to Hamas.”
Ogles known as on the Trump administration to denaturalize and “put [Mamdani] on the primary flight again to Uganda,” if proof of wrongdoing was discovered.
The consultant additionally had his telephone searched in 2024 by the FBI, after a watchdog group filed an ethics grievance into his marketing campaign fund utilization, and confronted scrutiny for false claims about his resume in 2023.
Hatcher shall be a heavy favourite in November within the deep purple district, which is rated a stable Republican seat by the nonpartisan Prepare dinner Political Report.
Yolanda Cooper-Sutton, DeVante Hill and Rachel Hurley are competing for the Democratic nomination within the fifth District.
