Ogles prevails in Tennessee U.S. Rep. primary; Blackburn, Johnson advance

(The Center Square) – U.S. Rep. Andy Ogles defeated Courtney Johnston in District 5 in one of the closest contested Tennessee primaries Thursday.

Ogles held nearly 57% of the vote while Johnston had 43% of the vote as of 8:45 p.m.

“We are thrilled to congratulate Rep. Andy Ogles on his primary election win,” Americans for Prosperity Action Senior Advisor Tori Venable said. “Tennessee voters once again clearly showed they want principled conservatives to fight for our state in D.C. Congressman Andy Ogles is the champion for liberty and fiscal responsibility who Tennesseans can trust to represent our great state.”

Incumbent Sen. Marsha Blackburn dominated her Republican primary against Tres Wittum with nearly 90% of the vote while Democrat Gloria Johnson defeated top contender Marquita Bradshaw, setting up a November matchup.

The closest two races for federal seats were in District 6, where Democrat Lore Bergman led a group of three in the primary with nearly 44% of the vote to take on incumbent John Rose in November’s general election while Sarah Freeman and Brenda Woods were close to tied with 31% and 30% of the vote in the District 8 Democratic primary to take on Republican David Kustoff.

The largest Tennessee Legislature race of note was Bobby Harshbarger holding a slight lead over Jon Lundberg in the District 4 Senate Republican primary with 53% of the vote to Lundberg’s 47%.

Jessie Seal led incumbent Frank Niceley in the District 8 Republican Senate race. Incumbent Patsy Hazlewood was in a tight race with a 1 percentage point lead over Michele Reneau in the Tennessee House of Representatives District 27 Republican primary.