Overview
- Charlie Hatcher beat incumbent Rep. Andy Ogles in the Republican primary for the redrawn 5th District on Thursday, setting up a November race against Democrat Chaz Molder.
- The Invest in Tomorrow Coalition, a clean‑energy aligned super PAC backed by donor Chris Larsen, spent roughly $1.3 million to support Hatcher and attack Ogles, and that outside spending was decisive in the contest.
- Tennessee’s Republican legislature redrew the map in May after a U.S. Supreme Court decision narrowed parts of the Voting Rights Act, splitting majority‑Black Memphis territory and creating a 5th District with about 82% new voters to Ogles.
- Ogles had faced ethics and credibility problems, including a 2024 FBI seizure of his cellphone in a campaign‑finance probe that the Justice Department later moved to return, which opponents used to question his fitness for office.
- The primaries also produced Trump’s pick for the remapped 9th, Brent Taylor, who will face Democrat Justin Pearson in November, and the results underline how the new map and outside money will shape fall general elections.