It is election day in Tennessee, and voters will be casting their votes for congressional leaders in both the U.S. House and Senate.
Eyes will be on Tennessee’s 5th Congressional District, in which Rep. Andy Ogles (R-TN) is facing a well-funded challenger. Meanwhile, Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), who is favored to win her primary, will learn who her opponent will be in November as the Democratic primary comes to a close.
The contests come just a few weeks after the Republican National Convention, in which former President Donald Trump became the nominee and selected Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) as his running mate. Trump has endorsed Ogles and Blackburn in their primaries.
Ogles seeks to fend off competitive primary challenger
Ogles, a hard-line House Freedom Caucus member with ambitions to chair said caucus, is seeking a second term and faces a primary challenge from Metro Council member Courtney Johnston. The race is expected to be tight, thanks to outside spending that has flooded into the contest.
The freshman House Republican has been under scrutiny since his first campaign for late property tax payments, a central topic in his 2022 election. He was also accused of embellishing his resume, which he later apologized for misstaking what he received his college degree in. He won a nine-way primary in his redrawn Nashville district and went on to win the general election handily.
Controversy did not evade Ogles once he entered the House. He faced an ethics complaint over his personal and campaign finances, drawing suspicions he violated federal law for refusing to file disclosure forms. He later had to amend his Federal Election Commission records that showed he brought in more than he actually did, as well as alter a $320,000 loan he previously reported making to his campaign that didn’t happen.
Ogles was also part of a group that prolonged the election of Kevin McCarthy for speaker that caused the House to go through 15 rounds of voting. The Tennessee Republican switched his support to McCarthy after the 11th round and later voted against the successful effort to oust McCarthy last fall.
In his 2024 election, Republicans have worked overtime to try and save Ogles, a Trump ally, from being ousted by Johnston, who holds a significant fundraising advantage over the incumbent. Prominent state GOP lawmakers are backing Johnston, while Trump and national Republican lawmakers are throwing their weight behind Ogles.
Johnston reported $500,000 cash on hand earlier this month, compared to Ogles’s $95,000, per campaign finance records. Johnston has capitalized on Ogles’s controversies on the campaign trail, calling him a “do-nothing” Republican and highlighting her work as a thorn in the side of liberals on the Metro Council.
The Conservatives With Character PAC, which is backing Johnston, has spent $640,000 as of July 24 and is expected to spend $1.2 million hitting Ogles with TV ads and mailers by Thursday, per the Tennessee Lookout. The House Freedom Action Fund, set up by the House Freedom Caucus, has spent around $85,000 on the campaign: $50,000 to support Ogles and $35,000 to oppose Johnston.
If Ogles loses his primary, it will be another blow to the Freedom Caucus after its chairman, Rep. Bob Good (R-VA), lost his June primary to former Navy SEAL John McGuire by fewer than 400 votes. Good’s recount began on Wednesday. Many Freedom Caucus members, such as Reps. Byron Donalds (R-FL) and Tom Tiffany (R-WI), have stumped or donated to Ogles’s campaign, as well as non-Freedom Caucus members, such as Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN).
Eyes on Democratic primary in Senate race
Tennessee’s senior senator, Blackburn, is favored to win her Republican primary against Tres Wittum, a former state Senate policy analyst. His previous national election bid was in 2022, when he placed fifth in the 5th District’s primary that Ogles won.
The contest to focus on is the Democratic primary, which has several candidates running for the chance to oust Blackburn. Leading the field is state Rep. Gloria Johnson, who broke into the national spotlight as one of the “Tennessee Three” whom state Republicans tried to expel for engaging in a House floor gun control protest. Her colleagues, state Reps. Justin Jones and Justin Pearson, were expelled, while Johnson was saved by a one-vote margin.
Johnson is running for her state House seat, as well as the U.S. Senate seat. The Republican-controlled state House attempted to pass a bill that would ban dual runs, but the legislation stalled, per the Associated Press.
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Other Democrats in the primary include community activist Marquita Bradshaw, the party’s 2020 Senate nominee who lost to Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-TN). Lola Denise Brown and Civil Miller-Watkins are also in the race.
The polls will close at 8 p.m. Eastern time.
