NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — During Tennessee’s primary, Republican Rep. Andy Ogles managed to defeat a well-funded opponent, Nashville council member Courtney Johnston, as he pursued a second term in Tennessee’s 5th Congressional District.
Ogles leveraged his own endorsement from Trump to defeat Nashville council member Courtney Johnston, who had received campaign checks from prominent Republicans including former U.S. Sens. Bill Frist and Bob Corker and former Gov. Bill Haslam.
Ogles faces Democrat Maryam Abolfazli, who was unopposed in her party's primary, in the fall.
Johnston had hoped that Ogles has irked enough Republicans by creating headaches over questions about his resume, inaccurate campaign finance reporting and a headline-grabbing approach to lawmaking.
Ogles first won the congressional seat in 2022 after Tennessee Republicans redrew the district to include a part of left-leaning Nashville.
Leaders representing the growing city sharply criticized the redistricting, saying it diluted Nashville’s interests by dividing it into three congressional districts that include wide swaths of rural Tennessee. The concerns grew with the election of Ogles, a former mayor of Maury County two counties south of Nashville.
Since his election in 2022, Ogles has been a vocal critic of the Biden administration and last year filed articles to impeach President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. He filed new articles to impeach Harris after she became the front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination following Biden’s exit from the 2024 race.
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- Rebecca Schleicher
