Businessman Tom Guarente confirmed to The Tennessee Star that he dropped his candidacy for Tennessee’s 5th Congressional District on Thursday, leaving just one Republican challenger to Representative Andy Ogles (R-TN-05).
Guarente confirmed via text message to The Star on Thursday afternoon, “I dropped off the ballot today.”
While Guarente filed official paperwork for his candidacy in February, the Republican never formally launched a campaign. When reached by The Star in late March, Guarente said he was “humbled by the enthusiastic support that we have received” and said voters should expect to hear more in the “coming weeks.”
Following Guarente’s decision to withdraw, the primary contest has narrowed, with Ogles running as the incumbent and Metro Council Member Courtney Johnston seeking to unseat him as a challenger.
Johnston has yet to include policy positions or issue statements on her campaign website, but stated in her campaign announcement that she is pro-life, supports “immediately securing the border,” wants to fund law enforcement “fully,” and supports former President Donald Trump.
Ogles, meanwhile, received one of Trump’s first endorsements of the 2024 political cycle.
Trump called Ogles “a fantastic Representative for the incredible people of Tennessee’s 5th Congressional District” in his May 2023 endorsement. The former president noted he was “pleased to recently receive” an endorsement for his presidential campaign from Ogles.
“I was proud to help Andy flip a Democrat seat in 2022,” wrote Trump. “He will not let you down!”
More recently, Ogles joined 18 other House Republicans in a vote against reauthorizing the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) on Wednesday after Trump urged his House allies to kill the legislation.
In a statement to The Star, Ogles explained he voted down the FISA bill to protect Tennesseans from “unreasonable searches and seizures by the federal government” after Republican House leadership denied Ogles and his colleagues the opportunity to amend the legislation.
Since receiving Trump’s endorsement, Ogles has accrued the endorsements of Senators Bill Hagerty (R-TN), Ted Cruz (R-TX), Mike Lee (R-UT), and Representative Jim Jordan (R-OH-04).
Ogles also has the endorsement of the Republican Liberty Caucus, which in 2023 named him a Top Defender of Liberty.
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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Georgia Star News, The Virginia Star, and the Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Tom Guarente” by Tom Guarente.
Andy is the bomb! He has been the biggest surprise in the last election cycle, You hope someone will deliver when you vote for them, but to actually see them deliver on their word, is awesome.