Tennessee GOP Rep. Andy Ogles was ousted by a Republican challenger on Thursday, a blow to President Donald Trump and Speaker Mike Johnson who tried to boost his campaign in the final days.<\/p>\n

Former Tennessee Agriculture Commissioner Charlie Hatcher won the GOP primary for the 5th District after outraising Ogles, receiving a late endorsement from GOP Gov. Bill Lee and seeing a flood of outside money on his behalf from a renewable energy super PAC<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Ultimately, that spending, coupled with a newly redrawn district that forced Ogles to reach new voters, helped end his reelection bid. Ogles has also faced a number of controversies since he was first elected in 2022.<\/p>\n

He deleted a homophobic social media post<\/a> that was denounced by members of his own party in June, and he drew severe backlash for another post<\/a> in which he said \u201cMuslims don\u2019t belong in American society.\u201d In 2024, the FBI searched Ogles\u2019 phone<\/a> during an investigation into campaign finance records, which came after a watchdog group filed an ethics complaint<\/a> into his use of campaign funds. And in 2023, he faced scrutiny for false claims about his<\/a> resume.<\/p>\n

Ogles\u2019 loss makes him the second Trump-endorsed candidate to lose a primary this week, after a Michigan House candidate who had the president\u2019s backing fell to a challenger who had already dropped out<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Hatcher will face the Democratic mayor of Columbia, Tennessee, Chaz Molder, in November. Molder has posted strong fundraising hauls, while Hatcher will basically be starting from scratch.<\/p>\n

But Republicans redrew the seat to favor Trump by 23 points after the Supreme Court severely limited the Voting Rights Act earlier this year, leaving Hatcher as the front-runner.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"