Most congressmen ruffle the occasional feather back home as they navigate Washington’s minefield of votes, interviews and committee hearings. But a series of missteps has rallied an entire flock of business-minded Nashville insiders against Freedom Caucus Republican Rep. Andy Ogles, forcing him to work harder to keep his seat in Tennessee’s Aug. 1 primary.
The uninhibited Ogles — who spent four years as mayor of rural Maury County — was never a natural fit for the chunk of Nashville that wound up in the 5th District after GOP-led redistricting. Although he won the Republican nomination in 2022 with a narrow 37% plurality by running up the score everywhere else, it hasn’t taken long for his poor relationship with the city’s power players to become a liability. Locked in a one-on-one contest with well-funded Nashville Metropolitan Council member Courtney Johnston, Ogles is at risk of getting blown out in the Davidson County portion of the seat.
Yet even as the Republican mainstream joins forces against him, Ogles — who voted 11 times to deny Kevin McCarthy the speaker’s gavel in January
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