{"id":30893,"date":"2026-08-07T08:54:13","date_gmt":"2026-08-07T03:54:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=30893"},"modified":"2026-08-07T08:54:13","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T03:54:13","slug":"trump-endorsed-rep-andy-ogles-projected-to-lose-gop-primary-in-tennessee","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=30893","title":{"rendered":"Trump-endorsed Rep. Andy Ogles projected to lose GOP primary in Tennessee"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"\">\n<p>Two-term Rep. Andy Ogles lost the Republican primary for his Tennessee House seat, the Associated Press projects, despite securing an endorsement from President Trump.<\/p>\n<p>With just over 80% of votes counted in Thursday&#8217;s primary, Ogles trailed former state Agriculture Commissioner Charlie Hatcher by just over six points, according to results compiled by the AP.<\/p>\n<p>It marks the second loss this week by a congressional candidate backed by Mr. Trump, whose endorsement typically carries significant sway in Republican primaries. In a Michigan GOP House primary two days earlier, Trump-endorsed candidate Amir Hassan <span class=\"link\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/news\/thomas-smith-dropped-out-wins-michigan-house-seat-defeats-trump-opponent\/\" data-invalid-url-rewritten-http=\"\">lost to Thomas Smith<\/a><\/span>, who had suspended his campaign weeks earlier.<\/p>\n<p>In a victory speech Thursday night, Hatcher said Ogles had called him to concede and offered to help him transition into the job.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t know what D.C. is going to be like. It&#8217;s going to be a new environment for me,&#8221; Hatcher told Nikki Hauser, a reporter for Nashville CBS affiliate WTVF. &#8220;I appreciate anybody that can mentor me and help me in that process &#8230; He was nice enough to do that, and I accepted it.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>A member of the hard-right House Freedom Caucus, Ogles secured the president&#8217;s endorsement last November, and Mr. Trump again urged people to vote for the &#8220;Conservative Warrior&#8221; in an <a href=\"https:\/\/truthsocial.com\/@realDonaldTrump\/posts\/117049473842173374\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Election Day social media post<\/a>. But Hatcher was endorsed by Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee and former Gov. Bill Haslam.<\/p>\n<p>Ogles has drawn controversy for incendiary rhetoric on social media, including posts stating that &#8220;homosexuality has <a href=\"https:\/\/rollcall.com\/2026\/06\/03\/gop-push-to-love-thy-neighbor\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">no place in America<\/a>&#8221; and that &#8220;Muslims <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/RepOgles\/status\/2031002097135599717\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">don&#8217;t belong in American society<\/a>.&#8221; He deleted the post about homosexuality, <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/RepOgles\/status\/2061989226996969790\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">saying<\/a> the &#8220;stupid&#8221; and &#8220;hurtful&#8221; post was written by a member of his staff who was later &#8220;reprimanded.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Ogles&#8217; phone was\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/storage.courtlistener.com\/recap\/gov.uscourts.tnmd.100213\/gov.uscourts.tnmd.100213.4.0.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">seized by the FBI<\/a> in 2024 as part of a campaign finance-related investigation. The lawmaker pushed back on the move, and the Justice Department <a href=\"https:\/\/storage.courtlistener.com\/recap\/gov.uscourts.tnmd.100213\/gov.uscourts.tnmd.100213.25.0.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">agreed to return his phone<\/a> earlier this year. He was not charged with a crime.<\/p>\n<p>Earlier this year, Ogles&#8217; district was redrawn as part of a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/news\/tennessee-redistricting-legislature-vote-congressional-maps\/\" target=\"_blank\" data-invalid-url-rewritten-http=\"\">broader redistricting effort<\/a> that broke up Tennessee&#8217;s sole Democratic-leaning seat. The district previously covered parts of Middle Tennessee near Nashville, but it now snakes more than 200 miles from the Nashville suburbs to Memphis.<\/p>\n<p>Both Ogles and Hatcher have sought to align themselves with Mr. Trump while running in the deep-red district. But Hatcher has taken some jabs at Ogles&#8217; rhetoric, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.williamsonherald.com\/news\/local_news\/charlie-hatcher-aims-to-bring-common-sense-to-washington\/article_aa36a755-93a9-4ce6-90c4-8b42e7d23686.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">calling him<\/a> a &#8220;show horse&#8221; and arguing: &#8220;Think what President Trump could do if our congressman spent less time talking and more time doing.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Ogles was also outspent in the race, raising $613,135 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fec.gov\/data\/candidate\/H6TN05405\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">to Hatcher&#8217;s<\/a> $719,503, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fec.gov\/data\/candidate\/H2TN05446\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">according to<\/a> Federal Election Commission filings. And a pro-clean energy super PAC called the Invest In Tomorrow Coalition spent around $2 million to support Hatcher and oppose Ogles last month. The group&#8217;s donors include tech billionaire Chris Larsen and several renewable energy companies.<\/p>\n<p>Ogles criticized the Invest in Tomorrow Coalition in the final days of the race, <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/AndyOgles\/status\/2084301203521876011\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">accusing<\/a> national left-leaning group of &#8220;interfering in a Republican primary&#8221; and trying to buy his seat because he &#8220;openly fought against green energy subsidies in Congress.&#8221;\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>In a Thursday night statement, Invest In Tomorrow Coalition Chair Tom Matzzie vowed to &#8220;continue to punish members of either party who want to play politics with American jobs, energy security, and utility prices.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Tennessee&#8217;s 5th District just proved once again that standing in the way of America&#8217;s energy future comes with a hefty political price,&#8221; said Matzzie, who is also the CEO of electricity supplier CleanChoice Energy.<\/p>\n<p>Hatcher will face Democratic nominee Chaz Molder in the November general election.<\/p>\n<section class=\"content__body--footer\">\n<\/section>\n<p>  <!-- data-recirc-source=\"queryly\" --><\/p>\n<aside class=\"component list recirculation component--type-recirculation  \">\n<p><h3 class=\"component__title\">More from CBS News<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n<div class=\"component__item-recirc-block\">\n<p><h3 class=\"component__title\">Go deeper with The Free Press<\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<section class=\"content__body--footer\">\n      <!-- tags --><\/p>\n<section class=\"content__tags\">\n<p class=\"content__tags__label\">In:<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/section><\/div>\n<script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Two-term Rep. Andy Ogles lost the Republican primary for his Tennessee House seat, the Associated Press projects, despite securing an endorsement from President Trump. With just over 80% of votes counted in Thursday&#8217;s primary, Ogles trailed former state Agriculture Commissioner Charlie Hatcher by just over six points, according to results compiled by the AP. It&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":30894,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/assets2.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2022\/08\/05\/c959b1e7-3a14-4b27-9a3c-3dabadfe9e64\/thumbnail\/1200x630\/dc15229903d8dc77fb1dfa4e9e1eafc7\/ap22217136222129.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-30893","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pics-news"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30893","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=30893"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30893\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/30894"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=30893"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=30893"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=30893"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}