Charlie Hatcher Frames Redrawn Congressional District 5 Map as Strength to Unseat Andy Ogles

Former Tennessee Agriculture Commissioner Charlie Hatcher sees himself as more electable following the state's historic redistricting, in his bid to unseat incumbent Republican Congressional District 5 U.S. Rep. Andy Ogles.

The newly redrawn congressional map expanded Congressional District 5 to include more rural counties, something that Hatcher’s campaign and allies see as an advantage to the dairy farmer and veterinarian, who continues to attempt to define himself as MAGA enough for Republican voters.

On April 16, Hatcher spoke to a Brentwood Republican women’s group who generally liked him, but repeatedly told him that he should be running for governor, and not against Ogles, who received a warm reception when he spoke to the same group two weeks prior. 

Hatcher told that group that his top priorities would be legislation aimed at ensuring America’s food security and preservation of farmland from foreign entities, declaring himself “MAHA [Make America Healthy Again] before there was MAHA.” He also said that he would “vote very similarly” to Ogles, who he criticized for not being accessible to his constituents.

Ogles has made numerous appearances in Middle Tennessee this year, mostly private events for Republican audiences, in addition to challenging student protesters at Belmont University. Ogles has framed his appearances as those of a sitting congressman and not as campaign events, thereby avoiding answering campaign-specific questions from the press.

Many of Ogles’ remarks in recent months have centered on his work as the Chairman of the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Protection, as well as his frequent demonization of Muslims. He’s additionally championed his recent legal victory after the FBI returned seized phones and destroyed information related to a 2024 criminal campaign finance investigation. He’s been sure to remind voters that he’s also “working on the farm” at his Columbia home.

Despite Ogles’ slew of controversies, he remains popular with many hardline Republicans who see him as a charismatic MAGA culture warrior. 

One of Ogles’ legislative initiatives is the proposed American System for Sustainable Immigration and Mass Immigration Limitations Achieved Through Imposing Oversight Nationally (ASSIMILATION) Act, which aims to drastically reform U.S. immigration policies, including ending birthright citizenship.

In March, Ogles posted online that “Muslims don't belong in American society. Pluralism is a lie,” while just last week he deleted a homophobic post that he blamed on a staffer.

In April, the Williamson Scene directly asked Hatcher if he believes that Muslims have a place in America. He paused and first said that “the focus should be on terrorists of all nationalities, whatever they are, not just Muslims,” adding, “to make that just one group of people, I don’t think that’s accurate.” 

When asked to clarify his stance on if Muslims have a role in America, Hatcher responded, "absolutely."

“There's Muslims that are American citizens, that are good, law-abiding people, and there's soldiers in the US Army that are good warriors, so absolutely.”

On May 28, Hatcher appeared alongside former Tennessee Congressman Zach Wamp, who served in Congressional District 3 from 1995-2011, speaking to a few dozen people (including several members of the Hatcher family) at the Greg Norman Signature Golf Course at The Grove.

“If I'm a one-termer, I'm fine with it,” Hatcher said at that event. “I'm just going to vote the way I think I should vote to represent the district. That might be contrary to the administration or it may not be depending on what it is. I don’t believe in career politicians. I’m a political outsider. I’m pretty naive.”

While Hatcher clearly struggled with selling himself to voters, Wamp took over and gave an impassioned speech that earned rousing applause from attendees.

“We deserve in Tennessee a better representative in the 5th congressional district. We just do,” Wamp said. 

“He's [Ogles] not raising money because he's toxic. People are just tired of this grifter mentality in Washington, D.C.,” Wamp continued, calling President Trump’s endorsement of Ogles last year “very soft,” hinting that he believes that Trump could potentially rescind that endorsement and eventually back Hatcher.

“The most important thing for me is he [Hatcher] re-raises the standard of what Tennessee expects,” Wamp said.

At the same time that Wamp stumped for Hatcher, Ogles was speaking to Williamson County Republican Party members just 15 miles away in Franklin. He declined to respond to Wamp referring to him as a “grifter,” and refused to answer any questions from the Williamson Scene.

In speaking with reporters, Wamp compared Hatcher’s character to former Tennessee Gov. Winfield Dunn and Hatcher’s self-described “old-fashioned grassroots ground campaign” to that of current Gov. Bill Lee, who in 2017 campaigned across the state in a tractor to highlight issues facing rural Tennesseans. 

Lee appointed Hatcher to lead the state’s agriculture department in 2019, where he served as commissioner until late 2025. He first joined the department in 2009 when he was the state veterinarian.

Hatcher called himself “a huge Trump supporter,” who said he’s committed to working with the Trump administration on their policy initiatives. In recent weeks has promoted more hardline political stances, including one social media post from Heritage Action for America that reads in part, “Mass deportations are not enough. We need a complete overhaul to our immigration system.” 

That post is in support of Texas Rep. Chip Roy’s proposed Pausing All Admissions Until Security Ensured (PAUSE) Act, which would “freeze all immigration to the U.S., except for temporary tourist visas, until certain conditions are met to ensure our immigration system is working on behalf of the American people.”

Hatcher pitches himself as a “work horse” and Ogles as a “show horse,” and acknowledges that both national-level Republicans and Democrats see Ogles as a vulnerable candidate, framing himself as the GOP’s best choice to defeat Democratic Party Congressional District 5 frontrunner and Columbia Mayor Chaz Molder.

“I think everybody understands that even though this is a heavily red district, there is a chance that it could go blue,” Hatcher told the Williamson Scene. “And if I'm the Republican candidate and win the primary, that's not going to happen.”