(C) Tennessee Lookout
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Despite $1M ad blitz, Johnston underperformed in Tennessee U.S. House race against Ogles • Tennessee Lookout [1]
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Date: 2024-08-05
Nashville Republicans liked their chances if they could get U.S. Rep. Andy Ogles in a one-on-one primary matchup, but that scenario fell flat during last week’s Tennessee U.S. House primary, when he handily defeated Nashville council member Courtney Johnston.
Former Tennessee House Speaker Beth Harwell and Brigadier General Kurt Winstead, a Nashville and Franklin Republican, received nearly 3,000 more votes than Johnston when they went up against Ogles in 2022. Johnston received fewer votes in every county compared to the combined total of Harwell and Winstead except in Davidson and Williamson.
The outcome came even after over $1 million was spent by Johnston and an independent group called Conservatives With Character on television advertisements that blanketed television airwaves over the last weeks of election.
Ogles, a former mayor of Maury County, beat Johnston in every part of the district except the Nashville suburbs that comprise just a part of Tennessee’s 5th U.S. Congressional District.
The one-term congressman didn’t need much support in Tennessee’s capital city as long as he consolidated the suburban and rural Republican voters who make up a majority of primary voters in the district.
The 5th district is a heavily gerrymandered seat, created during the 2022 redistricting cycle when Tennessee Republicans in the General Assembly divided Nashville across three districts in hopes of flipping it from a Democrat seat.
The new drawings worked, allowing Republicans to win it along with eight of the state’s nine congressional districts despite only winning about 60% of the vote in the last two presidential elections. Redistricting has also meant no member of congress representing Nashville is from the city.
Ogles defeated Harwell, Winstead, and six other Republican candidates in 2022 by winning 35% of the primary vote. He defeated Nashville Democratic state Sen. Heidi Campbell in the general election with 56% of the vote.
A former lobbyist for Americans for Prosperity, Ogles is a very conservative lawmaker, serving in the U.S. House Freedom Caucus. His plurality victory and ideological views left open the possibility for some Nashville and Williamson County Republicans that he could be vulnerable in a less crowded primary.
Americans for Prosperity and other conservative groups like Club for Growth have been financial backers of Ogles, spending a couple million dollars in 2022 on advertisements to boost him and around $300,000 this year.
During his time in Congress, he was one of the 20 members who initially held out on supporting U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in his quest for the speakership at the start of 2023.
Ogles has also faced allegations that he embellished his resume and lied about how he would use funds raised through GoFundMe, according to reports from NewsChannel 5. He also admitted to wrongly reporting that he loaned his campaign $320,000 in 2022 during a pivotal fundraising time.
Johnston and Conservatives With Character tried to us these allegations against Ogles to paint him as too untrustworthy to hold the seat.
But Ogles managed to improve his Republican vote in district going from around 21,000 votes in 2022 to over 32,000 this year.
He will face Democrat Maryam Abolfazli in the November general election.
Abolfazli is the founder of the nonprofit Rise and Shine Tennessee. She has become a frequent face at the state capitol, advocating for stricter gun laws and better public education funding.
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[1] Url:
https://tennesseelookout.com/2024/08/05/despite-1m-ad-blitz-johnston-underperformed-in-tennessee-u-s-house-race-against-ogles/
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