Congressman who introduced bill to send anti-Israel protesters to Gaza loses primary

Rep. Andy Ogles (R-Tenn.), a two-term congressman known for controversial statements as one of the most conservative House members, lost his Republican primary election in Tennessee’s 5th Congressional District on Thursday in an upset victory for former state agricultural commissioner Charlie Hatcher.

During his time in the House, Ogles introduced legislation that would require anti-Israel protesters who violate U.S. law to perform community service in Gaza, wrote a letter to the U.S. Department of Justice calling for New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani to be denaturalized and deported and stated that “Muslims don’t belong in American society” and that “pluralism is a lie.”

Ogles lost his primary after Tennessee carried out redistricting earlier this year with a map breaking up the district of Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.), the lone Democrat in the Tennessee congressional delegation and one of a handful of Jewish House members from the South.

Cohen announced in May that he would not seek re-election after the redistricting.

The new 5th District includes parts of Cohen’s old district around Memphis and then follows the entire western border of the state up the Mississippi River before snaking east halfway across Tennessee to the outskirts of Nashville.

Ogles lost despite receiving the endorsement of U.S. President Donald Trump in the race against Hatcher, who served as Tennessee’s agricultural commissioner from 2019 to 2025.

With 99% of votes counted, Hatcher secured 36,544 votes (53.2%) to 32,091 (46.8%) for Ogles.

Hatcher gained the endorsement of several Republican officials in the state, including outgoing Gov. Bill Lee, and ran on an explicitly pro-Trump platform even without the president’s endorsement.

He will now face off against Chaz Molder, the Democratic mayor of Columbia, Tenn.

In a recent interview, Molder described Israel as one of America’s “staunchest allies” but said that “we might not always agree with our allies.”

“The current administration in Israel is not necessarily always making the right decisions, and it’s OK to question that and to let them know if there’s something they’re doing that we don’t agree with,” he told a local news station. “We can still understand that that relationship is rock solid, even if we have some disagreements.”

Tennessee’s 5th district is likely to be a solid Republican seat for November, according to the Cook Political Report.

Elsewhere in the state, Rep. David Kustoff (R-Tenn.), who is the other Jewish House member from Tennessee, won his uncontested primary for Tennessee’s 8th Congressional District on Thursday.

Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) also won a three-way Republican primary race to replace the term-limited Lee as governor with 311,329 votes (43.4%) and 99% of votes counted. The next closest candidate was 10.5 points behind her.

During her time in the Senate, Blackburn repeatedly led legislation supporting Israel and the American Jewish community, including a resolution urging the adoption of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of Jew-hatred and a bill to block terrorists who participated in Oct. 7 from entering the United States.

Get the latest updates in our WhatsApp group.

Test yourself on one question pulled from JNS reporting. New puzzles daily.