Far-Right Tennessee Mayor Wins GOP House Primary

The Associated Press reports:

Andy Ogles, a far-right county mayor, won Tennessee’s crowded Republican primary on Thursday in a reconfigured congressional district in left-leaning Nashville that the party is hoping to flip in November. In a warning ahead of the general election, he said, “Liberals, we’re coming for you.”

Ogles, the Maury County mayor and onetime leader of the Koch-backed Americans for Prosperity’s state chapter, emerged among nine candidates after a hard-fought primary for the state’s 5th Congressional District.

The seat drew heavy interest from Republicans after GOP state lawmakers carved Nashville into three districts, leading incumbent Democratic Rep. Jim Cooper to announce his retirement.

Read the full article.

Ogles first earned local notoriety in 2020 when he claimed that the COVID pandemic was “fake.” He later battled COVID mitigation protocols. Ogles is pals with extremist pastor Greg Locke.

Maury County Mayor Andy Ogles wins Tennessee’s bruising nine-candidate Republican primary for an open congressional seat in Nashville. The Democratic race for governor, meanwhile, remained too early to call between Jason Martin and JB Smiley Jr. https://t.co/WXsDTDFVfE

— The Associated Press (@AP) August 5, 2022

We’re here in downtown Columbia for the 9/11 “prayer vigil.”

County Mayor Andy Ogles just came up to the stage and gave an unhinged screed that there will never be a vaccine mandate and that’ll he’ll go to jail before being forced to take a COVID-19 vaccine. pic.twitter.com/RM1ZrVuXsa

— Christopher Hale (@chrisjollyhale) September 12, 2020

“The choice is ours, and I choose freedom.”

Mayor Andy Ogles is calling on the Tennessee General Assembly to hold a special session challenging Gov. Bill Lee’s emergency powers regarding COVID-19 protocols. https://t.co/PKv5MnJev1

— FoxNashville (@FOXNashville) August 11, 2021