Rep. Andy Ogles, a Tennessee Republican endorsed by President Trump, lost his primary Thursday to Charlie Hatcher, a former state agriculture commissioner, by a margin of 53.2% to 46.8% with more than 95% of the vote counted.
Ogles, a member of the House Freedom Caucus, had campaigned alongside Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson in a late-July tele-rally. The Freedom Caucus Fund, a group backing hard-line conservatives, said it spent $750,000 defending him.
Hatcher benefited from spending by the Invest in Tomorrow Coalition, a political action committee that supports renewable energy policy. Allison Weisenberger of the Freedom Caucus Fund told the Washington Times the group spent $2 million to raid the Republican primary.
According to Weisenberger, the group’s goal is to destroy Trump’s America First majority in Congress, install Hakeem Jeffries as speaker, and reinstate what she called Biden’s Green New Scam, the subsidies that Trump and the Freedom Caucus eliminated in last year’s budget bill.
Invest in Tomorrow chairman Tom Matzzie disputed that characterization in an email to the Washington Times. He said it was gratifying to see the Freedom Caucus upset after the group exposed that it could not protect its members, and he insisted the mission was not partisan.
Matzzie said the group is proud to help members of Congress, regardless of party, who back renewable energy, and equally proud to punish those who do not.
Ogles was among the Republicans who pushed to eliminate green-energy subsidies in last year’s budget bill. Matzzie’s group also targeted former Rep. Chip Roy of Texas, who lost his attorney general primary earlier this year after leading the same fight.
Matzzie called it the group’s second upset in as many primaries, first Chip Roy, now Ogles, and vowed to keep punishing members of either party who play politics with American jobs, energy security, and utility prices.
Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee, a Republican, endorsed Hatcher two days before the primary. Hatcher describes himself as pro-gun, pro-life, and pro-Trump on his campaign website.
Trump wrote on Truth Social Friday that Thursday was another good night for endorsements, 8 wins to 1 loss, noting he had stayed loyal to Ogles even though the odds were long. He endorsed Hatcher for the general election.
