NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — As Maury County Mayor Andy Ogles emerged victorious in the Republican primary for Tennessee's 5th congressional district Thursday night, so too emerged a likely new political reality for south Nashville voters, long represented by Congressman Jim Cooper — a Democrat.
Ogles' election came about after state Republicans split the Democratic stronghold of Nashville into three separate congressional districts -- an area that Cooper will have previously held for two decades.
Cooper, elected to 10 terms as Congressman representing Nashville, said in January he wouldn't be running again because he said it wouldn't be possible for him to win in his redistricted seat.
On the January 2022 day Cooper announced he wouldn't be running again in his redistricted seat, Cooper said he feared a Republican successor won't be willing to help immigrants and other recent arrivals to Nashville.
"The anti-immigrant sentiment of most of the Tennessee delegation is well-known," Cooper said in January.
Ogles spoke on the topic of immigration Thursday night.
"We have to secure our border," Ogles said. "And to lazy Joe, you need to be impeached. Kamala [Harris] needs to be impeached, and the Secretary of Homeland Security needs to be tried for treason for letting 2 million people into this country."
Ogles will face off against the Democratic nominee, current State Senator Heidi Campbell, in November.
