Conservative grassroots activist Andy Ogles announced he is “ending his campaign for the U.S. Senate effective immediately,” in a statement released by his campaign Wednesday morning.
“I entered this race to insure that Tennessee would have conservative representation that would reflect their values and commitment to ‘draining the swamp’ that Tennesseans expect and deserve. With Senator Corker making the decision to exit the Senate at the conclusion of his term rather than being terminated by the voters, the political landscape changed dramatically,” the former head of the Tennessee chapter of Americans for Prosperity said in the statement, which continued:
“With each passing day, Senator Corker has underlined why Tennessee voters were prepared to fire him. As others hesitated, I was willing to accept the challenge and believed that once his vulnerabilities could be exposed voters would give him a pink slip. He clearly believed the same thing,” Ogles added. “Senator Corker has shown more passion attacking our President the past eleven months than he expressed in criticizing President Barack Obama during his entire 8 years in the White House. Thanks to Senators like Bob Corker, we have failed to secure our borders, still haven’t repealed and replaced Obamacare and are struggling to develop a plan to cut taxes — despite the best efforts of President Trump and Republican majorities in both houses. Sadly he would rather fight with the President than fight for us.”
“With two Republican candidates for the nomination, who have millions of dollars in their Congressional accounts or personal wealth at their disposal, I do not see a path to raise the millions of dollars needed to run a successful race this election cycle. Like millions of Tennesseans, I will be watching and listening carefully to what the Republican candidates say and do before I choose who to support,” said Ogles. “In the meantime, I encourage all the candidates, at every level in Tennessee, to focus on the issues that matter to conservative voters, speaking clearly and honestly about where they stand and how they plan to fight for us if we trust them with our votes.”
Ogles’ withdrawal leaves two candidates vying for the 2018 Republican nomination to represent Tennessee in the U.S. Senate.
Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN-07) is considered the frontrunner in the race. Former Rep. Stephen Fincher (R-TN-08) is also an announced candidate.
Sad day that we have lost our only true choice for Americans. We will now only have the career politicians that have their own agendas and not agendas that are to help or benefit our America. God bless our America and Americans and TRUMP and God please help our America now.
I have been critical of Andy in the past because we have a widely known and financially strong conservative candidate in Marsha Blackburn so the only practical effect his candidacy would have had is to aid tepid conservative Fincher by splitting the conservative vote. By withdrawing it seems that Andy came to the same conclusion. I believe that every conservative owes Andy thanks for withdrawing from the race and I look forward to supporting Andy in his future attempts at elective office.
If only long-shot conservative candidates who find themselves running/ABOUT TO RUN a quixotic campaign against another conservative would emulate Andy Ogles, 2018 would be a fabulous election year for the conservative movement in Tennessee.
If Marsha is so conservative, why her ACU score merely a C+. We never should be happy when a true conservative leaves the battlefield. Marsha needs to explain some votes and why her candidacy immediately Haslam’s announcement. Why would Old Lamar say he was very much looking forward forward to working with her, when he has been working against the interests of conservative Tennesseans for years? Hmmm?