Rep. Andy Ogles of Tennessee has lost his Republican primary, NBC News projects, falling to a former state official in a primary season that has seen an unusually high number of incumbents lose renomination.
Charlie Hatcher, the former state agricultural commissioner, rode support from prominent establishment Republicans to a victory over Ogles, a controversial congressman backed by President Donald Trump. He is a heavy favorite in the general election in the deep-red district.
Ogles was outraised and outspent on the airwaves, largely because of a massive ad effort from a pro-clean energy group — a last-minute campaign Ogles criticized in an interview with Fox News.
While Ogles had arguably the most important endorsement in a GOP primary in Trump’s, Hatcher had backing from Gov. Bill Lee, former Gov. Bill Haslam and other prominent Republicans, like former Trump Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue.
Ogles has faced various controversies over the years. He said this year that Muslims don’t belong in American society, deleted a homophobic social media post after having blamed a staffer and argued last year that the federal government should revoke future New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s citizenship and deport him.
He was also investigated on suspicion of campaign finance violations; he has not been charged with any crimes. Ogles told The Associated Press that the Justice Department returned his cellphone, which it had seized during the investigation.
But while Ogles had fended off a well-funded primary opponent before, he couldn’t do it this time. Hatcher didn’t run away from Trump, either, despite Trump’s support for Ogles. Hatcher aligned himself with Trump and his policies and sought to contrast himself with Ogles.
“Think what President Trump could do if our congressman spent less time talking and more time doing,” reads a quote on Hatcher’s website.
Ogles is the ninth House member — six Democrats and three Republicans — to lose a primary this year. That’s the most in a nondecennial redistricting year since 1970, according to Vital Statistics on Congress.
Two senators, Republicans Bill Cassidy of Louisiana and John Cornyn of Texas, also lost their primaries, and an additional House member — Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-Texas — finished second in his primary and then decided to drop out of the race and resign before a GOP runoff.
