Tennessee Voters Oust Trump-Backed Congressman in Primary

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Former Tennessee Agriculture Commissioner Charlie Hatcher defeated U.S. Rep. Andy Ogles in the Republican primary for the state’s newly redrawn 5th Congressional District on Thursday, marking a rare rejection of a candidate endorsed by President Donald Trump. The outcome sets the stage for November matchups in districts reshaped by a controversial redistricting effort that has reignited debates over voting rights in the Volunteer State.

A Rare Defeat for Trump’s Endorsement

Ogles, a member of the conservative Freedom Caucus, had sought a third term with Trump’s backing. The president called Ogles “a Conservative Warrior” on Election Day and attended a tele-rally for him in late July. But Hatcher, a fifth-generation dairy farmer who served as agriculture commissioner under Republican Gov. Bill Lee for seven years, prevailed in a district where 82% of voters were new, according to an Associated Press estimate.

“The message resonated, and the message was: Work like a farmer, get things done and serve others,” Hatcher told the AP after winning the primary.

Hatcher’s campaign drew support from prominent establishment Republicans, including Gov. Lee, former Gov. Bill Haslam, and former Trump Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue. He campaigned as pro-Trump while emphasizing his farming background and contrasting himself with Ogles. “Think what President Trump could do if our congressman spent less time talking and more time doing,” reads a quote on Hatcher’s campaign website, as reported by The Guardian.

Ogles faced a series of controversies during his tenure, including an FBI seizure of his cellphone in 2024 as part of a campaign finance investigation that the Justice Department later abandoned, and a 2023 acknowledgment that he had misdescribed his college degree. More recently, he drew condemnation for saying “Muslims don’t belong in American society” and posting that “homosexuality has no place in America,” remarks that NBC News reported he later blamed on a staffer.

Ogles was also outraised and outspent on the airwaves, largely due to a $2 million ad campaign from the Invest in Tomorrow Coalition, a pro-clean energy super PAC that supported Hatcher and attacked Ogles for opposing green energy initiatives.

Redistricting Reshapes the Political Landscape

The primary results provided the first test of a new congressional map redrawn in May by Tennessee’s Republican-controlled legislature. The redistricting followed the U.S. Supreme Court’s April 29 ruling in Louisiana v. Callais, which weakened Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 protections for minorities. Tennessee was the first state to pass a new map following the ruling, as AP News reported.

The new map splits Shelby County — home to Memphis, the nation’s second-largest predominantly Black city — among three congressional districts that extend outward like spokes into rural areas. The strategy, known as “cracking,” dilutes the voting power of the county’s heavily Democratic, majority-Black population. All three districts are now rated as solidly Republican by Cook Political Report.

The redistricting has drawn sharp criticism from civil rights advocates. Martin Luther King III wrote to Tennessee Republican leaders that “a session launched for the sole purpose of dismantling Congressional District 9 is not normal and is not fair,” warning that “the resulting disenfranchisement of Black voters would run contrary to everything that my father, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., fought for,” as reported by The Commercial Appeal.

Republicans argue the new districts are more representative of the state’s population than packing Black voters who overwhelmingly support Democrats into a single seat. “I think it’s better for the congressmen in these districts to actually represent the interests and values of Tennesseans,” state Sen. Brent Taylor told NPR. “And that’s much better accomplished in districts that look like Tennessee rather than just a simply large urban core district like the old district 9 was.”

A High-Stakes Showdown in the 9th District

In the newly redrawn 9th District, which stretches about 200 miles east from Memphis across rural areas before reaching north toward Nashville, voters chose two Memphis-area lawmakers to square off in November. Trump-backed state Sen. Brent Taylor won the Republican primary, while Democratic state Rep. Justin Pearson — who gained national prominence when he was expelled from the Tennessee House in 2023 for protesting in support of gun control measures, then was reelected by voters — secured the Democratic nomination.

Pearson, who launched a “Defend District 9” campaign, noted to supporters that Thursday marked 61 years to the day since the Voting Rights Act was signed. “The political dilution and degradation of our rights is happening,” he said. “But we’re one step closer to Washington, D.C.”

Taylor countered in a statement that “Pearson is the face of the extreme left in this race — the same activist who has repeatedly put chaos over order.” The district previously favored Democrats but now tilts Republican, with 71% of voters new to the district, according to an AP estimate.

Longtime Democratic Rep. Steve Cohen, who had held the 9th District seat since 2007, announced he would not seek reelection after the redistricting, which he called an effort that “puts us back in the Jim Crow era.”

Broader Primary Results and National Implications

Thursday’s primaries also delivered other significant results. U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn defeated Rep. John Rose in the GOP gubernatorial primary to succeed term-limited Gov. Bill Lee. If elected in November, Blackburn would become Tennessee’s first female governor. Memphis City Council member Jerri Green won the Democratic gubernatorial primary.

State Rep. Johnny Garrett won the Republican primary for the open 6th District seat, defeating Rose’s recent chief of staff, former U.S. Rep. Van Hilleary. Sen. Bill Hagerty won the Republican Senate primary without opposition and will face Marquita Bradshaw in November.

Ogles’ defeat is part of a broader trend of incumbent losses in the 2026 primary season. He is the ninth House member — six Democrats and three Republicans — to lose a primary this year, the most in a nondecennial redistricting year since 1970, according to The Hill via Yahoo News. Two senators, Republicans Bill Cassidy of Louisiana and John Cornyn of Texas, also lost their primaries. Ogles was the second Trump-endorsed candidate to lose a primary this week, following Amir Hassan’s defeat in Michigan’s 8th District on Tuesday.

What to Watch in November

Republicans already hold eight of Tennessee’s nine congressional seats and are aiming for a clean sweep in November. Hatcher is heavily favored to win the 5th District against Democrat Chaz Molder, the mayor of Columbia, in a district rated safely Republican. The 9th District race between Taylor and Pearson is expected to be the most competitive, though the new map gives Republicans a significant structural advantage.

Memphis voters, meanwhile, have shown strong engagement despite the changes. More than 90,000 people — a fifth of registered voters in Shelby County — voted early, a 4% increase from 2022. As the November general election approaches, the outcome of these races will offer a key test of whether the redistricting strategy succeeds in reshaping Tennessee’s congressional delegation — and whether the backlash it has generated among voters will translate into unexpected results at the ballot box.