Andy Ogles | |
|---|---|
 Official portrait, 2022 | |
| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromTennessee's5th district | |
| Assumed office January 3, 2023 | |
| Preceded by | Jim Cooper |
| Mayor ofMaury County | |
| In office September 1, 2018 – August 30, 2022 | |
| Preceded by | Charlie Norman |
| Succeeded by | Sheila Butt |
| Personal details | |
| Born | William Andrew Ogles IV (1971-06-18)June 18, 1971 (age 54) Nashville, Tennessee, U.S. |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 3 |
| Relatives | Brandon Ogles (cousin) |
| Education |
|
| Website | |
William Andrew Ogles IV (/ˈoʊɡəlz/OH-gəlz;[1] born June 18, 1971) is an American politician and businessman who has served as theU.S. representative forTennessee's 5th congressional district since 2023. A member of theRepublican Party, he served as the mayor ofMaury County, Tennessee, from 2018 to 2022.
Ogles had previously worked as aconservative activist, serving as the executive director of the Laffer Center, a conservative think tank and the Tennessee chapter of conservative advocacy groupAmericans for Prosperity.
Ogles has taken strongly conservative positions and been described by media as being on thefar-right of the political spectrum.[2][3] He opposes abortion andsame-sex marriage. He was one of the original 19 members of Congress to vote againstKevin McCarthy forSpeaker of the House. He is known for his staunch support forDonald Trump,[4][5] and for sending Christmas cards featuring a photo of his family holding rifles.[6]
During theattempts to overturn the 2020 United States presidential election, Ogles falsely claimed thatit was stolen. He has proposed a constitutional amendment to enable Trump to serve a third presidential term and filed articles of impeachment against judges who rule against theTrump administration.[4]
Ogles has been criticized for lying about his education and career backgrounds, having falsely claimed to be both an economist and law-enforcement officer.
Ogles was born on June 18, 1971. A native of central Tennessee, he graduated fromFranklin High School and later attendedWestern Kentucky University andColumbia State Community College from 1990 to 1993, studying allied language arts and English.[7][8]
Ogles later studied atMiddle Tennessee State University (MTSU), where he failed every course taken in the fall of 1995 and the fall of 1998; he returned to the university in 2007 and graduated with a 2.4grade point average, with a Bachelor of Science in liberal studies.[7][9][10] Ogles said in late February 2023 that his failed university courses were due to "an interfamilial matter" that led him to abandon his studies "to financially support my family during a difficult time" and that he eventually completed his studies with online courses.[11][12]
After Ogles became a congressman in 2023, his congressional biography claimed that he received his degree from MTSU, "where he studied policy and economics."[7][9][13] Ogles' claim was questioned byNewsChannel 5 in February 2023, which published an investigatory report detailing that in a 2009 resume and also in a background check of unspecified date, Ogles claimed to have an MTSU degree in international relations, with minors in psychology and English.[7]NewsChannel 5 additionally reported that MTSU declined to confirm Ogles' degree, referencing a federal law allowing students like Ogles the ability to block the release of academic records.[7] Ogles later spoke toWWTN radio, calling for everyone to "lock down your transcripts ... so you're not a victim of identity theft."[9] In other comments to WWTN made on February 21, 2023, Ogles said that he does not remember "saying I had an economics degree … because I've been quite clear that I studied political science and international relations", while maintaining that he studied political science from "the economic perspective".[14]
On February 26, Ogles said that he was "mistaken" in claiming to have an MTSU degree in international relations, and claimed that he requested his college transcript the week before, and only learned then that his degree was actually in liberal studies.[9][11][15]NewsChannel 5 called Ogles's statement "apparently preemptive" because Ogles "ignored our requests for comment" after the media outlet obtained his MTSU transcript from an old job application.[9] On February 27,NewsChannel 5 published Ogles's transcript, which showed that Ogles took only one economics course at a community college, scoring a C pass, while he passed nine (and failed several other) political science courses at MTSU.[9] By February 28, Ogles's congressional biography was edited to simply state: "Andy obtained his degree from MTSU."[11]NewsChannel 5 also investigated Ogles' claims of having done graduate work in marketing atVanderbilt University'sOwen School of Management andDartmouth College'sTuck School of Business, and learned that Ogles took online non-credit courses in certificate programs rather than graduate courses.[16]
Ogles's involvement in politics began when he became the first director of the Tennessee chapter ofAmericans for Prosperity, a conservative political advocacy group. He later became involved with theLaffer Center, a conservative think tank.[17] He has also been aClub for Growth Foundation fellow.[18]
Ogles made two unsuccessful bids for elected office, a run forthe state's 4th congressional district in2002 and theTennessee Senate in 2006, losing in the Republican primary both times.[19][20]
In September 2017, Ogles announced he would challenge incumbent U.S. senatorBob Corker, who he believed was insufficiently conservative, in the following year's primary. Upon announcing his bid, Ogles was financially supported by Lee Beaman, a Tennessee businessman who owns a large auto dealership chain and who planned to raise $4 million for Ogles.[4] Two months later, Corker announced that he would retire instead ofseeking the 2018 nomination. That led incumbent U.S. representativeMarsha Blackburn, the eventual winner, and former representativeStephen Fincher to announce they would seek the seat. As their respective campaigns were likely to be well funded, Ogles announced shortly afterward that he would withdraw.[21]
Ogles has repeatedly made public claims of being an "economist."[22][23] AfterNewsChannel 5 questioned how much formal training in economics Ogles had, he said he was an economist because when "you look at the body of someone's work ... I've spent the last decade working on economic policy and tax policy."[7][14] During that time, Ogles had worked for roughly five years as an anti-tax lobbyist with Americans for Prosperity, and then for a year as the executive director of the Laffer Center, an organisation run by economistArthur Laffer.[14] The executive director position seemed to involve mainly "administrative" work, reportedNewsChannel 5, with Ogles not being named as an author of any economic reports uploaded on the Laffer Center's website.[7][14] Ogles' congressional website claims that "while working at the Laffer Center, Andy became a nationally recognized expert on tax policy and healthcare, having been featured in numerous publications, includingThe Wall Street Journal andInvestor's Business Daily".[7]NewsChannel 5 questioned this claim, being unable to find any articles in the publications independently citing him as an expert, only finding three columns written by Ogles in these publications, all of which were written when he was a lobbyist, before he worked for the Laffer Center.[7]
At a political debate, Ogles called himself "a former member of law enforcement, worked in international sex crimes, specificallychild trafficking", while at a separate forum, he said: "I went into law enforcement. I worked in human trafficking."[7][12]NewsChannel 5 reported that Ogles was a volunteer reserve deputy with the Williamson County Sheriff's Office from 2009 to 2011, with his position revoked for failing to meet minimum standards, failing to progress in field training, and failing to attend required meetings.[7] The Williamson County Sheriff's Office said that records do not show Ogles trained or worked against international sex trafficking as a reserve deputy.[7] In 2011, Ogles worked as a chief operating officer for Abolition International, a non-profit organisation which described its work as giving grants to "holistic ministries".[7] Ogles indicated that since his stint at Abolition International overlapped his stint as a reserve deputy, "Maybe I created some of the confusion or maybe it was someone looking to write a story".[15] While Ogles claimed he was "heavily involved in the fight against human trafficking",NewsChannel 5 reported that Abolition International's tax records showed that Ogles worked in a part-time position that paid him $4,000 in total.[7] Ogles' congressional website originally claimed that Ogles was "overseeing operations and investments in 12 countries" for Abolition International; butNewsChannel 5 disputed that number as too large; the website later amended its claim to overseeing operations and investments in "several countries."[10][11][13]
Initially considered a potential contender in the2018 Tennessee gubernatorial election, Ogles instead saw his major first electoral success when he was elected mayor ofMaury County in the August 2, 2018, general election, defeating incumbent Charlie Norman.[24][25]
During his mayoralty, Ogles criticized Tennessee governorBill Lee for not restricting local school boards' ability to implementmask mandates in response to theCOVID-19 pandemic, calling for the state legislature to pass legislation to support his position in a special session.[26] He supported a sales tax increase that passed in 2020.[27][28]
Ogles initially filed to run for a second term as county mayor but withdrew to enter the racefor the redrawn U.S. House of Representatives seat inTennessee's 5th congressional district in 2022.[29] After he had announced his candidacy for Congress, he vetoed the county and school budget increases over a 31-cent property tax increase. In a letter he sent to the county commission chairman, he claimed that the "County Library went fullwokeexposing children to age inappropriate material." The county commission complained it had not been aware of any concerns Ogles had had over the budget, noting that he rarely attended meetings and had taken no part in the budget process. Ogles said that since he could not vote at the meetings it was not necessary for him to attend them and that he kept up by watching them online.[30] Two weeks later the county commission overrode the veto, citing Maury's status as the fastest-growing county in the state.[31]
Ogles seemed to some observers to have gotten off to a strong start in the primary, specifically credited to his nearly half a million dollars raised in the campaign's first month. Though, campaign finance disclosure reports showed that he had raised only $264,400, with a $320,000 personal loan to the campaign.[27]
Among the many rival candidates, two stood out as serious challengers: formerstate HousespeakerBeth Harwell, and retired U.S. Army brigadier general Kurt Winstead. Ads by the Tennessee ConservativesPolitical Action Committee (TCPAC) called Ogles a "D.C. insider" and lobbyist who had failed to pay his property taxes nine times while supporting the sales tax hike and a marriage tax, as well as failing to vigorously oppose Maury County's recent property tax hike. Records showed that Ogles had indeed been from a few days to almost a year late paying taxes on hisFranklin home between 2005 and 2015, leading to interest charges. He filed adefamation suit against TCPAC. Ogles, in turn, was supported bysuper PACs that ran ads attacking Harwell and Winstead as "too liberal for Tennessee."[27]
On August 4, Ogles won the primary.[32][33]
Ogles faced Tennessee senatorHeidi Campbell in the November general election. The district was previously a Democratic stronghold centered on Nashville, but had been redrawn as an area that voted for RepublicanDonald Trump by 12 percentage points in the2020 presidential election.[34] This was done bysplitting heavily Democratic Nashville into three congressional districts.[34] When the new district boundaries were announced, the Democratic incumbent decided to retire, calling the new district "unwinnable" for a Democrat.[32] Ogles was endorsed by theHouse Freedom Caucus, theHouse Republican Conference's farthest-right bloc.[17]
During the campaign, Ogles avoided the major local media in favor of conservative local talk radio and posted very little on social media. Early in the campaign, he made some appearances with aflamethrower, saying he would use it on PresidentJoe Biden's work when he got to Washington.[33] A late October appearance with Texas U.S. senatorTed Cruz inFranklin was announced in his first campaign-related Twitter post since he won the Republican primary. He declined several invitations to debate.[35]
Ogles was slightly outraised and outspent by Campbell.[32] He raised almost $1 million for his campaign,[33] including what he falsely represented at the time as a $320,000 personal loan,[36] and spent $573,000. In contrast, Campbell raised over $1 million, without the use of personal loans, and spent $679,000 largely on television ads.[33]
Ogles won the general election in November with 56% of the vote to Campbell's 42%, becoming the first Republican to represent the state's 5th district since the 19th century.[32] As a result, Nashville was not represented by a single Democrat in Congress for the first time in modern history.[33]
On January 1, 2023, Ogles signed a letter by fellow representativesScott Perry andChip Roy expressing opposition to fellow RepublicanKevin McCarthy in the upcominghouse speakership election after McCarthy did not accept all their proposed House rules changes.[37] On January 3, his first day in office, Ogles joined far-right House Republicans in voting against McCarthy on the first three ballots.[38] This was the first time since1923 that a speaker was not elected on the first ballot.[39] On January 6, after days of negotiations, Ogles voted for McCarthy on the 12th ballot, joining the rest of Tennessee's Republicandelegation.[40] He explained in a statement that this was because he believed negotiations between McCarthy and the other holdouts were going well.[41]
Shortly after being sworn in, Ogles was appointed to theHouse Financial Services Committee.[42]
The first bill Ogles introduced, the Inflation Reduction Act of 2023, would repealthe previous year's Inflation Reduction Act. In president Joe Biden'sState of the Union speech, he mentioned the bill without mentioning Ogles's name, which Ogles took credit for in a subsequent tweet.[43]
Ogles is part of theFreedom Caucus.[44]
In February 2024, during an argument with a pro-Palestinian activist questioning him aboutPalestinian child casualties in theGaza war, Ogles told the activist "So, I think we should kill 'em all if that makes you feel better— everybody inHamas. Hamas and the Palestinians have been attackingIsrael for 20 years. It's time to pay the piper... Death to Hamas!" The American Muslim Advisory Council criticized Ogles' comments, claiming that he was endorsing the "extermination of the Palestinian people." A spokeswoman for Ogles stated that Ogles "was not referring to Palestinians, he was clearly referring to the Hamas terrorist group."[45][46][47] Ogles would further state that he supported the right of Israel "to punish Hamas on a scale of Biblical proportions, including their accomplices and the facilitators of theaforementioned atrocities. I stand by what I said: Death to Hamas."[48][49]
In May 2024, Ogles introduced a pair of bills in the House in response to the2024 pro-Palestinian protests on university campuses. The first bill, entitled the Antisemitism Community Service Act (HR 8321), would send anyone who has committed a crime on a college campus since October 7, 2023, the date of the2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel, to theGaza Strip to perform six months of community service, though the text of the bill appears to apply regardless of whether the crime in question was related to a pro-Palestinian protest.[50][51][52] The second bill, entitled the Study Abroad Act (HR 8322), would canceltravel visas for those who have been arrested "for rioting or unlawful protest" or for "establishing, participating, or promoting an encampment" on college campuses since October 7, 2023.[50][52]
On January 23, 2025, three days intoTrump's second administration, he filed a resolution which would change the22nd Amendment to allow Trump to serve a third term, by allowing presidents who serve two non-consecutive terms to run for a third term.[53][54]
On February 24, 2025, after JudgeJohn D. Bates ruled against the Trump administration in a lawsuit involving the removal of "gender ideology" content from federal health websites, Ogles introduced an article of impeachment, alleging that Bates' lack of "intellectual honesty and basic integrity" constituted ahigh crime and misdemeanor.[55] A month later, he filed an article of impeachment against JudgeTheodore Chuang, claiming that Chuang had "marginalized the President's Article II authority" when he ruled against the administration in a case involving the dismantling of theU.S. Agency for International Development.[56] Ogles also attempted to prevent dozens of Democratic representatives from continuing to serve on House committees.[57]
Ogles filed his first campaign finance report more than a week after the deadline, the only candidate in the race at that time to be late in doing so. He blamed the delay on "issues retrieving bank statements". When he did file it, the report showed that the campaign had raised $254,000 instead of the $453,000 it claimed shortly after Ogles launched it. Questions were raised about the $320,000 loan Ogles claimed to have made his campaign, a loan not reflected in any of his personal financial disclosures to the House and beyond his apparent means.[58] In May 2024 the campaign filed 11 amendments to its reports over the past two years restating the amount loaned as $20,000. Ogles said the larger amount previously stated was a "pledge" as to how much of his own money he was prepared to put into the campaign if necessary and was mistakenly included on the reports.[59]NewsChannel 5 reported that the FBI raided hisMaury County home on August 1, 2024, as part of an investigation into his campaign finances.[60]
In June 2025, two days after theNew York mayoral primary, Ogles wrote a letter toAttorney GeneralPam Bondi calling forZohran Mamdani to bedenaturalized and deported from the United States.[61] Ogles reiterated the statement in a Twitter post, referring to Mamdani as "littlemuhammad", for which he was criticised by some Democrats.[62] Ogles further called Mamdani a "communist who has publicly embraced a terroristic ideology." Ogles claimed that Mamdani, who immigrated to the United States as a child, "came to America for one reason: To turn America into an Islamic theocracy."[63][64]
The day before theNovember general election, Ogles posted graphic footage of the 9/11 attacks, writing in a tweet, “WAKE UP NEW YORK!”[65] (Nonetheless, Mamdani would go on to win the race, becoming the firstMuslim American mayor-elect of New York City.)
Media sources have characterized Ogles's political views as conservative[66][67] or far-right.[68][69]
Ogles opposes abortion andsame-sex marriage.[70] In a 2022 interview, he downplayed the need for exceptions in an abortion bill, calling them "red herrings".[71] In June 2022, after the repeal ofRoe v. Wade, Ogles said, "The next thing we have to do is go after gay marriage."[72]
Ogles has called for theimpeachment of PresidentJoe Biden and Vice PresidentKamala Harris, and fortreason charges to be brought against Secretary of Homeland SecurityAlejandro Mayorkas.[34] He has called for theUnited States Department of Education to be defunded.[73]
Ogles denies the legitimacy of the2020 United States presidential election.[74]
Ogles supportsschool choice, deregulating health care, and lower taxes. He opposesearmarks.[18]
In July 2022, Ogles signed a pledge for an amendment to term limit representatives.[75][76]
In November 2023, Ogles voicedclimate change denial during aHouse debate, saying "I just went trick or treating with my kids and it was like, you know, the low that evening was 29 degrees, so temperatures change, alright? Temperatures have been changing for the millennia."[77]
In January 2025, Ogles proposed to amend theTwenty-second Amendment to the United States Constitution to allow American presidents who have two non-consecutive presidency terms to seek a third term as president. This would allow Donald Trump to seek a third term, but not presidents with consecutive presidency terms such asBarack Obama,George W. Bush, andBill Clinton. Ogles' rationale was that Trump "has proven himself to be the only figure in modern history capable of reversing our nation's decay", so it was "imperative that we provide President Trump with every resource necessary […] we, as legislators and as states, must do everything in our power to support him."[78][79][80]
Ogles lives on a farm inCulleoka, Tennessee, with his wife, Monica, and their three children.[8] When Ogles visits Washington D.C., he has stayed at a townhouse operated by Steve Berger, an archconservative evangelical pastor.[4]
His cousinBrandon Ogles is a former member of theTennessee House of Representatives.[81]
Ogles faced criticism when nearly $25,000 in donations received viaGoFundMe to finance a child burial garden in his stillborn child's memory appeared to have gone unspent.[82][83][84][85]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Janice Bowling | 20,709 | 37.10 | |
| Republican | Mike Greene | 13,563 | 24.30 | |
| Republican | Andy Ogles | 8,201 | 14.69 | |
| Republican | John Bumpus | 7,245 | 12.98 | |
| Republican | Mike Coffield | 4,991 | 8.94 | |
| Republican | Harvey Howard | 1,063 | 1.91 | |
| Republican | Write-ins | 41 | 0.07 | |
| Total votes | 55,813 | 100.0 | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Jack Johnson | 4,623 | 30.72 | |
| Republican | Ray "Chip" T. Throckmorton, III | 4,351 | 28.91 | |
| Republican | Tom Neill | 3,408 | 22.64 | |
| Republican | Jeff Ford | 1,662 | 11.04 | |
| Republican | Bob Barnwell | 698 | 4.64 | |
| Republican | Andy Ogles | 309 | 2.05 | |
| Total votes | 15,051 | 100.0 | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Andy Ogles | 6,843 | 36.53 | |
| Independent | Charlie Norman (incumbent) | 5,387 | 28.75 | |
| Independent | Sonny Shackelford | 5,031 | 26.85 | |
| Independent | Amanda P. Kelton | 1,474 | 7.87 | |
| Total votes | 18,735 | 100.0 | ||
| Republicanhold | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Andy Ogles | 21,298 | 36.9 | |
| Republican | Beth Harwell | 14,998 | 26.0 | |
| Republican | Kurt Winstead | 12,709 | 22.0 | |
| Republican | Jeff Beierlien | 4,086 | 7.1 | |
| Republican | Natisha Brooks | 1,740 | 3.0 | |
| Republican | Geni Batchelor | 1,016 | 1.8 | |
| Republican | Timothy Bruce Lee | 843 | 1.5 | |
| Republican | Stewart T. Parks | 585 | 1.0 | |
| Republican | Tres Wittum | 397 | 0.7 | |
| Total votes | 57,672 | 100.0 | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Andy Ogles | 123,358 | 55.87 | |
| Democratic | Heidi Campbell | 93,375 | 42.29 | |
| Independent | Derrick Brantley | 2,083 | 0.94 | |
| Independent | Daniel Cooper | 1,125 | 0.51 | |
| Independent | Rich Shannon | 846 | 0.38 | |
| Total votes | 220,787 | 100.0 | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Andy Ogles (incumbent) | 32,047 | 56.54% | |
| Republican | Courtney Johnston | 24,634 | 43.46% | |
| Total votes | 56,681 | 100.00% | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Andy Ogles (incumbent) | 205,075 | 56.85% | |
| Democratic | Maryam Abolfazli | 142,387 | 39.47% | |
| Independent | Jim Larkin | 7,607 | 2.11% | |
| Independent | Bob Titley | 3,065 | 0.85% | |
| Independent | Yomi Faparusi | 2,580 | 0.72% | |
| Total votes | 360,714 | 100.00% | ||
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromTennessee's 5th congressional district 2023–present | Incumbent |
| U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial) | ||
| Preceded by | United States representatives by seniority 349th | Succeeded by |
