Likened to disgraced former Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y., for major discrepancies in the financing of his last campaign, condemned by the local media and heavily outspent by his primary opponent, Rep. Andy Ogles — almost incredibly — not only survived the Republican primary in Tennessee's 5th District on Thursday but did so with a never-expected 57% of the vote.
Most Volunteer State sources who spoke to Newsmax credited Ogles' upset win to what is increasingly becoming the "gold standard" of contested Republican primaries: the endorsement of Donald Trump.
Earlier this year, Ogles was devastated by published reports that he filed financial forms indicating he had spent $320,000 of his own money on his winning campaign in 2022. The freshman lawmaker had neither a savings nor a checking account in his bank.
Ogles subsequently amended his statements no less than 11 times, but never quite explained from where he got the six-figure amount to invest in his own campaign.
This year's primary opponent, Nashville Metro Council Member Courtney Johnston, hit that hard, charging that "If Andy Ogles is willing to lie about his own money, what won't he lie about?"
"She was an attractive candidate that raised a fair amount of anti-Ogles money," said one Tennessee Republican activist who requested anonymity. "But she didn't raise enough money, for example, to go up on TV with sufficient wattage during most of early voting to make herself and her message broadly known.
"I think a lot of early votes were cast without people knowing who she was, which of course worked in Ogles' favor."
The same observer pointed out that "Ogles sent out $300,000-$400,000 worth of franked official mail [from his congressional office] that looked mysteriously like campaign pieces, but somehow the House Franking office approved them. That made up some of the 'money raised differential' between Ogles and Johnston."
Despite the much-publicized charges against Ogles, Trump never withdrew his endorsement or announced a last-minute dual endorsement of both the congressman and Johnston, as he did in a hotly contested Republican primary for Congress in Arizona two days before Tennessee. Ogles, unable to afford major TV advertising, broadcast that he was "Trump-endorsed" in digital advertising.
In numerous primaries in the last few election cycles, being "Trump-endorsed" has packed a powerful punch. The race is Tennessee's 5th District is clearly the best example of that so far this year.
John Gizzi is chief political columnist and White House correspondent for Newsmax. For more of his reports, Go Here Now.