Andy Ogles Withdraws from U.S. Senate Race

Andy Ogles

Andy Ogles, a grass roots political activist and the former head of the Tennessee chapter of Americans for Prosperity, withdrew from the campaign for U.S. Senate. He listed the difficulty in raising money as the reason for withdrawing saying, “With two Republican candidates for the nomination, who have millions of dollars in their Congressional accounts or personal wealth at their disposal, I do not see a path to raise the millions of dollars needed to run a successful race this election cycle."

Ogles announced his candidacy in September, before Corker announced he would not be seeking reelection. Other candidates did not announce until after Corker said he would not be seeking reelection. With Ogles out of the race that leaves Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN-07) and former Rep. Stephen Fincher (R-TN-08) as candidates. Larry Crim who is always running for something and who is not a serious candidate is also running as a Republican. Blackburn is considered the front runner.

The only Democrat seeking the seat so far is Nashville attorney James Mackler, who has no statewide name recognition. There is a national effort underway to encourage former Tennessee governor Phil Bredesen to seek the office. The primaries for this seat will be in August 2018 and the general election will be November 2018. For news reports on the story see these links: link, link.

Top Stories