Tennessee 5th Congressional District candidate Andy Ogles filed his first campaign finance report for the Federal Election Commission (FEC) April 1 through June 30 reporting period on Saturday, eight days after the July 15 deadline. Ogles is one of nine candidates listed on the August 4 primary ballot who are seeking the Republican nomination in Tennessee’s Fifth Congressional district.
The results of his campaign finance report shows he misled the public in a May press statement regarding the amount of money he raised.
Ogles additionally filed his required July 23 pre-primary report.
If Ogles is assessed a fine for his late report filing, an FEC calculator estimates that he’ll be fined $7,304.00 for reporting late.
The Tennessee Star previously reported that Ogles claimed in a press statement released on May 11 that he “raised $453,000” during the first month of his candidacy to secure the Republican nomination in Tennessee’s 5th Congressional District.
Ogles’ press statement specifically said he “raised” $453,000.
The Tennessee Journal additionally reported on May 11 that the Ogles campaign said that “none of his fundraising total came in the form of loans and that all contributions were from within Tennessee.”
FEC records now show that at least two of those claims were not accurate and were, in fact, misleading.
Ogles’ loan directly contradicts his statements to The Tennessee Journal and his finance report directly contradict his statements to The Star.
The vast majority of Ogles’ donations did come from within the state of Tennessee.
As of May 11, when Ogles had already sent out his press statements claiming “$453,000” raised, his report shows he was nowhere near that number.
Ogles loaned the campaign $320,000 on April 15 but had only raised roughly $66,600 in contributions by May 11, according to a contribution by contribution analysis of his campaign’s 2nd Quarter report filed with the FEC conducted by The Star.
The loan combined with the $66,600 shows that $386,600 was the total cash amount that the Ogles campaign brought in by May 11 when he claimed that he raised $453,000.
According to the FEC filing, Ogles raised an additional $29,100 between May 12 and May 18, which brought the total of cash deposited in the campaign’s account to $415,111, an amount that included Ogles loan to the campaign of $320,000 and $95,111 in total contributions as of May 18.
The two inaccurate and misleading statements made by the Ogles campaign to the media on May 11 were the following:
1. In its press statement dated May 11 the campaign claimed it had “raised $453,000” when, in fact, Saturday’s FEC filing by the campaign revealed that it had actually only raised $66,000.
2. In a statement to The Tennessee Journal on May 11 the campaign claimed that the total it claimed it had raised did not include any loans, when, in fact, Saturday’s FEC filing by the campaign revealed Ogles personally loaned the campaign $320,000 on April 15.
For the FEC second quarter report, Ogles raised $247,087.00 and loaned his campaign $320,000, giving him a Q2 cash on hand total of $508,798.61. The Ogles campaign spent $58,288.39 during that reporting period as well.
For the pre-primary report, which was filed on time and covers the reporting period of July 1 through July 15, Ogles raised $17,315.00, spent $242,775.48, and has $283,338.13 on hand.
Given that Ogles loaned himself $320,000, it is unclear how much money he is willing to or has available left to spend through the August 4 primary.
A political consultant familiar with the TN-5 race told The Star on the condition of background, “Ogles misled the public in his press statement because in all likelihood he was trying to show much greater financial strength to the D.C. special interest groups that are backing him and running attack ads on his opponents right now. If they knew that Ogles had only raised $60,000 or so at the time, they probably wouldn’t have thrown their support behind him and he would be up the proverbial creek without a paddle.”
The Star reached out to the Ogles campaign but they were unavailable for comment.
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Aaron Gulbransen is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Email tips to [email protected]. Follow Aaron on GETTR, Twitter, Truth Social, and Parler.
Photo “Andy Ogles” by Mayor Andy Ogles for Congress. Background Photo “U.S. Capitol” by Andrew Van Huss. CC BY-SA 4.0.
Why are we afraid to call out someone when they lie?
Lol at all the Harwell posters here that would have you believe she’s some kind of reformed RINO that’s gone and become a true believer of MAGA
I like Andy Ogles. His actions on mask mandates carry a lot of importance to me. Mr. Winstead seems like a democrat. Ms. Harwell seems more like an establishment candidate, especially after what happened at the GOP Reagan Dinner.
Andy is endorsed by Williamson Families, House Freedom Fund, The Tennessee Conservative, and Americans for Prosperity. To me, that is impressive.
I think he’s the most MAGA-like of the candidates.
Right you are B. he is the most conservative candidate but he made no effort to raise money and without money you can’t conduct a real campaign for a seat in the U.S. Congress so he has one problem, HE HAS LITTLE CHANCE OF WINNING. If Andy doesn’t win then it’s between Beth and Weathervane. Between Beth with an ACU rating of 86% and a man who spent most of his adult life as a Democrat my vote is for Beth.
Me thinks Andy may not be up for the job. Vote for Beth the proven leader.
Oh My!
So Ogles lied to get out of state money to back him whole at the same time decrying others who raised money from out of state?
Doesn’t sound like someone who represents Tennessee values.
Andy lied. Full stop. And he would lie to us every day if he somehow got elected. Scumbag.
Indeed! Andy’s entire campaign was a half-hearted enterprise from the very beginning. He really didn’t want to run hence his weeks of dithering as to whether or not to run until right before the filing deadline he finally decided to launch this shoestring campaign hoping the House Freedom Caucus and Club For Growth etc. can drag him over the finish line in first place. Beth Harwell (ACU-86%) is now the only proven conservative candidate who can win but I fear that enough conservatives will vote for Andy’s doomed candidacy so former Democrat Gen. Weathervane will be our next congressman.