Another Jeff Roe/Axiom Strategies client, TN-5 candidate Andy Ogles, announced the endorsement of U.S. Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) on Thursday.
In a statement endorsing Ogles that was provided to The Tennessee Star, Cruz said, “I am proud to endorse Andy Ogles for Congress in Tennessee’s 5th Congressional District. He is a steadfast conservative who will join me in the fight to cut taxes, secure our southern border, and protect the Second Amendment. Andy has spent his life working for the people of Tennessee, and I have no doubt he will continue to display that passion for service when elected to Congress.”
Political professionals consider Cruz’s endorsement a fait accompli when Jeff Roe and Axiom are working on a campaign, partly because Roe and Cruz work so closely together. Roe also ran Cruz’s 2016 presidential campaign.
“Jeff Roe’s Axiom Strategies is a company operated by political interns who get hired to guarantee Ted Cruz’s endorsement,” said a senior national political campaign strategist with several statewide and congressional clients this cycle.
A political consultant who has worked both with and against Axiom Strategies on races said, “The Ted Cruz endorsement is something that we all expect to happen when Axiom is involved. It is one of the things they say to potential clients during pitch meetings. We’ll get your campaign, Ted Cruz.”
Another strategist was blunter. When he learned of Cruz’s endorsement, he said, “Bought and paid for. Just like everything Axiom touches.”
Additionally, Roe previously served as a strategist for Club for Growth.
Axiom Strategies’ subsidiary, Ax Media, is listed on Ogles’ FEC report, and Ogles has confirmed to several individuals that he is working with Roe’s group.
Ogles reacted to Cruz’s endorsement, saying, “I am honored and humbled to receive the endorsement of Senator Ted Cruz. He has been a steadfast voice for freedom and liberty in our battle against the radical left, and I am proud to join him in that fight. Senator Cruz’s leadership has advanced the conservative movement, and I’m blessed he has placed his trust in me to represent Tennessee’s 5th District.”
Cruz has often found himself at odds with former President Donald Trump in several primaries during the 2022 election cycle.
Business Insider recently reported that Cruz endorsed against Trump’s choice on Tuesday “by endorsing an opponent of a Trump-backed candidate running in Wisconsin’s gubernatorial primary.”
Business Insider additionally reported that: “In May, Cruz stumped for his GOP colleague, Rep. Mo Brooks, who was running for a senate seat in Alabama. In a speech, Cruz mocked Republicans who pledged allegiance to Trump, while lauding Brooks.”
Ogles is a candidate in the August 4 Republican primary for Tennessee’s 5th Congressional District seat.
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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 “Ted Cruz” by Ted Cruz. Photo “Andy Ogles” by Andy Ogles.
Andy Ogles is the real Tennessee conservative! Ogles represents generational change that our state needs. Younger, more conservative Tennessee conservatives. It is time to turn the page on the old establishment RINOs. An example is Bill Hagerty standing with the Washington DC swamp over hardworking Tennesseans! Kurt Winstead and Beth Harwell represent the past, while Ogles is our future!
Bill Hagerty is currently carrying a Heritage score of 88%. If Bill Hagerty is an example of what Nancy calls a “RINO” as a conservative I say what the Republican Party needs is more “RINOS.”
I wonder if Jeff Roe/Axiom Strategies devised the brilliant strategy Andy used in this campaign that saw him declaring his candidacy a few days before filing deadline while the other campaigns were up and running then have his campaign lie almost completely dormant until a few days before early voting began. When the campaign did get going it was on the back of allied PACs who filled the media with negative ads. As a result, I question whether Andy has any chance of winning, but he sure can prevent Beth Harwell (ACU-86%) from winning which means it will be Congressman Weathervane in January and we’ll be lucky if Weathervane has a Heritage score of 75% when it’s all said and done.