Rep. Andy Ogles (R-TN), who received President Trump’s endorsement, lost in his Tennessee GOP congressional primary on Thursday night to challenger Charlie Hatcher, a farmer and the state’s former commissioner of agriculture.
Hatcher had the endorsement of Gov. Bill Lee.
The congressional district primary generated tons of outside attention, with millions pumped into the race.
PROJECTION: Trump-backed GOP Rep. Andy Ogles falls to a challenger backed by Tennessee’s governor, becoming the ninth House member to lose a primary this year. https://t.co/WgZMVUAIRg
— NBC News (@NBCNews) August 7, 2026
Fox News explained further:
The Invest in Tomorrow Coalition super PAC had spent roughly $2 million opposing Ogles and supporting Hatcher. The group has raised $6.7 million this year, making Ogles a sizable portion of their spending this cycle.
The way that Ogles sees it, it’s an attempt to show Republicans what happens when lawmakers attempt to claw back government funding for renewable energy sources.
Like many other Republicans, Ogles has called to scale back renewable energy investments made under the Biden Administration.
“When you have a group spending roughly $2 million in a Republican primary, that tells you how much money they’re making off of government subsidies, and they’re upset that the government welfare has been taken away from them,” Ogles told Fox News Digital in an interview.
A Fox News Digital review of FEC filings discovered that the super PAC is bankrolled by Chris Larsen, the California-based billionaire chairman of Ripple, a financial technology company that, according to its website, offers crypto solutions for businesses.
Larsen is also a frequent Democratic donor, having contributed $5,444,975 to support Kamala Harris’s failed presidential campaign.
More than just his opposition to government-backed renewable energy initiatives, Ogles thinks it’s his proximity to Trump that has made him a target.
CNN showed Ogles trailing Hatcher by more than six points in Tennessee’s newly redrawn 5th Congressional District.
Watch below:
CNN: We are projecting that Charlie Hatcher will defeat Andy Ogles. The result is an unexpected blow to President Trump, who endorsed the incumbent Ogles in that race pic.twitter.com/ESEAQsN4w7
— Acyn (@Acyn) August 7, 2026
“Andy is a Conservative Warrior who has strong support from his Community. In Congress, he is fighting tirelessly to Grow our Economy, Cut Taxes and Regulations, Promote MADE IN THE U.S.A. and American Energy DOMINANCE, Safeguard our Elections, Keep our Border SECURE, Stop Migrant Crime, Strengthen our Military/Veterans, and Defend our always under siege Second Amendment,” Trump said on Thursday,
“Andy Ogles my Complete and Total Endorsement for Re-Election,” he added.
I will always fight for Tennessee.
Honored to serve alongside @POTUS to drain the swamp and put America FIRST. pic.twitter.com/yV2hFQnCd0
— Rep. Andy Ogles (@RepOgles) August 6, 2026
More from The New York Times:
Mr. Ogles was running in a new congressional district after Republicans redrew the lines during the fallout from the Supreme Court’s weakening of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The district, which once included part of Nashville, now stretches from a cluster of suburbs outside the city west to parts of Memphis.
Mr. Hatcher, a longtime dairy farmer, had also won support from some notable establishment Republicans in the state, including the outgoing governor, Bill Lee. Besides urging voters to “hire a farmer,” Mr. Hatcher had taken care to emphasize his support for Mr. Trump, even without his endorsement.
At an election party on Thursday, Mr. Hatcher told reporters he would continue “meeting people where they are, working our tails off — this ragtag team of mine has been pretty successful.”
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