Andy Ogles is officially not returning to Congress after losing his Tennessee Republican primary. Brendan Hartnett and Lauren Egan, give their takes on Ogles’ stunning defeat and why Trump’s endorsement wasn’t enough to save him. We break down Ogles’ history of disgusting, racist and homophobic comments, his controversial $25,000 GoFundMe for a memorial garden that never happened, and how Tennessee’s redistricting helped reshape the race. Plus, Brendan and Lauren talk about what Ogles’ defeat means for Democrats hoping to flip the newly redrawn district and whether Trump’s endorsement is still the force it once was in Republican primaries.
(Photo illustration by The Bulwark | Images: Facebook, X, Shutterstock)
OF ALL THE CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICTS up for grabs this fall, Michigan’s 7th may be the most hotly contested. Smack in the middle of the state, the 7th went to Donald Trump by just one percentage point in 2024. Its current congressman, Republican Tom Barrett, won his seat that year despite Elissa Slotkin, a Democrat, carrying the district in her Senate victory.
This go-around, Barrett is facing off against William Lawrence, the 35-year-old cofounder of the hyperprogressive Sunrise Movement. Lawrence clinched the Democratic primary on Tuesday after a conservative group secretly boosted his candidacy and two moderate Democrats split the remaining vote.
In a race that promises to be close, the presence of a third-party candidate could prove decisive. And this year, the Green Party of Michigan has fielded just such a candidate. His name is Shane Dedrick. You would be excused for having no clue who he is.
Dedrick has almost no digital footprint. What is out there, however, doesn’t give any indication that he is the type of earthy environmentalist that typically runs under the Green Party banner. It might seem that, given Lawrence’s sterling progressive credentials, Dedrick’s candidacy is redundant. But don’t be surprised if he stays in the race. Because, if anything, the online breadcrumbs suggest a real possibility that Dedrick may be a Republican plant.
Savanna Cannon has become one of the fastest-rising viral personalities in right-wing media, but is politics really what she's selling? Will Sommer joins Brendan Hartnett to break down how Cannon's provocative MAGA videos have ignited a civil war on the right, with conservative influencers arguing over sex appeal, authenticity, and the growing influence of OnlyFans in the MAGA ecosystem. They explore how creators are using political content to build massive audiences, why conservative media can't seem to look away, and what Cannon's success reveals about the incentives driving online right-wing culture.
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