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Middle Tennessee U.S. Rep. Andy Ogles’ 2026 campaign has less money than his Republican challenger and three Democrats vying for his seat. 

But the two-term congressman has been outraised in both primary and general elections before, only to cruise to victory each time. 

Ogles has around $85,000 in his campaign account as of the end of March, the latest U.S. Federal Election Commission filings show. Among the roughly 370 U.S. Congress members running for reelection, Ogles is one of 16 incumbents with less than $100,000 cash on hand.

His GOP primary opponent, former Tennessee Agriculture Commissioner Charlie Hatcher, has around $150,000 in his campaign account and has so far outraised Ogles this election cycle. Ogles has raised around $450,000 and Hatcher $550,000

Ogles represents the 5th district, which spans from Lebanon, through the lower third of Nashville and the eastern half of Williamson County, across Maury, Marshall and Lewis counties. 

He’s represented the district since it was redrawn in 2022, as part of state Republicans’ successful gerrymandering of Nashville across three congressional seats to eliminate a Democratic-held seat. The 5th district had not been held by a Republican since the end of Reconstruction in the 1870s, until Ogles’ nearly 14-percentage point victory over Nashville state Sen. Heidi Campbell.

Trump backs embattled Ogles in Tennessee race against Hatcher

Ogles is a staunch conservative, a vocal backer of President Donald Trump, and is known for using social media to draw attention to himself. This year on X, formerly known as Twitter, he has posted that Muslims don’t “belong” in the US and asked Trump to create a policing task force for Nashville similar to one in Memphis. 

He’s also under investigation by the FBI for campaign finance violations, which include an allegedly fraudulent loan he made to his campaign in 2022 in order to inflate his fundraising totals. Ogles is also accused of embellishing his resume and raising $25,000 for children’s burials that allegedly never happened, according to reporting by Newschannel 5. 

He’s been outraised before, Dems want to flip seat

Campbell outraised Ogles in 2022, and in 2024, his Republican primary opponent, Metro Nashville Councilmember Courtney Johnston, brought in significantly more donations than Ogles did. Johnston also received more support from independent expenditure PACs than Ogles. 

These groups attacked Ogles over those controversies, but he beat Johnston by 13-percentage points.

National Democrats have targeted Tennessee’s 5th District as a potential seat to flip in 2026. The nonpartisan Cook Political Report rates the district as likely Republican. 

The Democratic primary has three candidates who have raised over $100,000, including Columbia Mayor Chaz Molder, who has raised nearly $1.8 million this cycle. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has thrown its support behind Molder. 

The other candidates in the Democratic primary are Metro Nashville Council member Mike Cortese ($533,000 raised), Jim Torina ($117,000) and Joyce Neal ($6,600).

The primary election for both parties is on Aug. 6, and the general election is on Nov. 3.

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