Tennessee GOP boots Trump-backed Morgan Ortagus from primary
by David Sivak, Chief Web Producer |
| April 20, 2022 04:03 AM
The Tennessee GOP removed a Trump-endorsed candidate from the ballot in the state’s 5th District primary on Tuesday, highlighting a rift between the former president and Republican leaders in the state.
The party’s State Executive Committee voted to bar Morgan Ortagus, who served as Donald Trump’s spokeswoman in the State Department, and two other people from competing in the primary, ruling that they failed to meet the definition of “bona fide” Republicans under the party’s bylaws.
The Tennessee Republican Party requires that candidates be “actively involved” in the state or local GOP and have voted in three of the last four Republican primaries, although members can vouch to party leaders that a candidate failing to meet these requirements deserves to remain on the ballot.
Ortagus, who earned the endorsement of Trump before entering the race in February, framed the decision to bar her as a move by “party insiders” to undermine her “America First” candidacy.
"I'm a bonafide Republican by their standards, and frankly, by any metric," Ortagus said in a statement to the Tennessean. “As I have said all along, I believe that voters in Middle Tennessee should pick their representative — not establishment party insiders. Our team is evaluating the options before us."
Ortagus has rankled party leaders in the state who object to her running in the 5th District despite having only moved to Tennessee last year. Her entry into the race gave rise to tensions between the state GOP and Trump, whose influence over the Republican Party is being tested in primaries across the country. The former president has endorsed more than 100 GOP candidates on the ballot.
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https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/campaigns/tennessee-gop-boots-trump-backed-morgan-ortagus-from-primary
