When Tennessee Republicans decided to gerrymander the state up recently, they split Davidson County (Nashville) between 3 red congressional districts that a Democrat wouldn’t have a serious chance to win. In 2020, Davidson County gave Biden a two to one win over Trump. By diluting the strong blue county among red rural swathes of backward parts of the state, the GOP has eliminated a Democrat from Congress. Until then, Nashville had been represented by a Democrat for 147 years, ever since Tennessee joined the union. Now the city is represented by 3 extreme right MAGAts— Andy Ogles (TN-05), John Rose (TN-06) and Mark Green (TN-07). All 3 lost the parts of their district that were in Davidson County, but the rest of their districts are so red that it didn’t matter.
Ogles did the worst in the 2022 general, basically because he is the worst, largely thought now to be one of Congress’ worst members— and an embarrassment to his state. He beat Democratic state Sen. Heidi Campbell 123,558 (55.8%) to 93,648 (42.3%). Campbell crushed him in the Davidson County part of the district— 53,627 (60%) to 34,353 (38%). Since then, even Republicans have come to despise him and his arrogant extremism and serial dishonesty.
Unlike Rose and Green, on Thursday he’s facing a serious primary challenge, facing off against conservative Davidson County Councilwoman Courtney Johnston. Her intro video is pretty devastating— one right-wing nut against another right-wing nut:
Reporting for PunchBowl yesterday, Mica Soellner and Melanie Zanona wrote about the race from a DC perspective, “as another referendum on the strength of the House Freedom Caucus… Ogles, a freshman member who has ambitions to chair the House Freedom Caucus, is facing Nashville Metro Council member Courtney Johnston. Johnston has a significant fundraising advantage over Ogles, reporting $500,000 cash-on-hand earlier this month, compared to Ogles’ $95,000.”
Many Members of Congress see Ogles as another version of George Santos— in other words, someone who had fabricated his whole existence, claiming, falsely, to be an economist, claiming to be a trained police officer and international sex crimes and human trafficking expert (also false). And, also like Santos, is a campaign finance fraudster.
“We’re taking nothing for granted,” Ogles told us. “We’re being outspent but we’re working harder. We’ve got the grassroots and our polling looks good. You never take your foot off the gas.”
Yet Ogles’ allies are more worried about the race than they want to be, according to multiple conversations we’ve had with members of the Freedom Caucus and the Tennessee delegation.
Ogles has come under scrutiny for his campaign finances. Ogles had to amend his FEC reports to reflect that a $320,000 loan he previously reported making to his campaign didn’t actually happen. The Tennessee Republican’s campaign said it was a mistake, and that Ogles only loaned his campaign $20,000.
Ogles also has reportedly embellished parts of his resume. A local news outlet reported that Ogles misrepresented his educational background and business credentials.
Johnston has hit Ogles over his campaign finance and resume controversies. She accused Ogles of being a headline chaser while painting herself as someone dedicated to good governance, making the race a contrast of personalities more so than policies.
Ogles’ ouster would be another big blow to the HFC after Chair Bob Good (R-VA) lost his high-profile primary against Virginia state Sen. John McGuire in June. Good’s recount is set for Thursday. The group has also lost several efforts to oust incumbents and replace them with more [fascist] candidates.
But unlike Good, Ogles has the support of former President Donald Trump. The Tennessee Republican has been running ads in the safe Republican district highlighting his Trump endorsement. He also has backing from the Americans for Prosperity Action group.
HFC circles the wagons: The Freedom Caucus doesn’t want to see another one of its members go down. Rep. Tom Tiffany (R-WI) said he donated to Ogles’ campaign to help boost his primary.
Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL) was making plans to try and go to Ogles’ district and said he’s been messaging on social media and other platforms to get out the vote for Ogles.
“Primaries, especially a first one, are tough and [Ogles is] going to find a way to work through it,” Donalds told us. “Andy has my full support and I’ll make sure I get that message out there for people in Tennessee.”
Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN), who isn’t a member of the Freedom Caucus but is close to the group, said he twice campaigned for Ogles in his district already.
“There’s only two ways to run: scared or unopposed,” Burchett told us. “He’ll be outspent with a lot of outside money coming in.”
One SuperPAC, Conservatives With Character, raised $640,627 and spent all of it bolstering Johnston. The organization refuses to disclose its donors, although presumably a good deal of that money is coming from Kevin McCarthy allies who would like to end Ogles career.
Like a fight in an insane asylum.