Live from Music Row Monday morning on The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. – host Leahy welcomed GOP candidate for Tennessee’s 5th Congressional Morgan Ortagus in-studio to talk residency status and voting record.
Leahy: We are joined in-studio by Crom Carmichael; in-studio, but also drinking her black coffee as somebody in the Naval Reserve would do, is a candidate for the 5th Congressional District, Morgan Ortagus. A couple of questions for you, Morgan. Have you ever voted in a Tennessee election?
Ortagus: Not yet. This will be my first year doing so. I have voted Republican since my first election that I was able to vote. It was actually the year 2000.
I was in college, I just turned 18, and I was in Florida. So it was an excellent history lesson for me on how much your vote really matters.
Leahy: Great. So we’ve seen reports that you first registered to vote here on November 29, 2021, three months ago. Are those reports correct?
Ortagus: So I changed my driver’s license. I moved here a little over a year ago. As soon as I ended my service in the administration, my husband and I moved here. He’s working locally. And I think that whatever the registration is, I’m sure that’s right.
Leahy: November. When did you get your driver’s license here?
Ortagus: Oh, gosh, I don’t remember which month. I think it was over the summer.
Leahy: But you have a driver’s license?
Ortagus: Yes.
Leahy: Where’s your husband registered to vote?
Ortagus: Here. We live here.
Leahy: You ready for the fastball?
Ortagus: Sure, why not?
Leahy: Coming over the plate and around the corner on this.
Ortagus: You know, I was State Department spokesperson.
Leahy: I know you’re used to fastballs and bullets. All right, so here we go. So this is the core of the issue. So Dictionary.com offers two definitions for the word “carpetbagger.” (Ortagus chuckles) Ready?
The first is “A Northerner who went to the South after the Civil War and became active in Republican politics, especially so as to profiteer from the unsettled social and political conditions during Reconstruction.”
Now, the second is “a politician who takes up residence in a place and runs for office without having strong ties to the area.” My question is, does that second definition – a politician who takes up residence in a place and runs for office without having strong ties to the area – Does that apply to you? And if so, why, and if not, why not?
Ortagus: Well, absolutely not. I’m not a politician. I’ve never run for office before. I never sought to run for office before. There are a lot of people that have been running for political office their whole life. That’s not me.
I’ve worked in the private sector. I’ve worked for President Trump. I’ve raised my hand to serve in the military. I got motivated to run for office without even any thought of what was happening in all of these races, simply because of what President Biden and Nancy Pelosi have done to our country in just a year.
We have failed domestic policy, failed foreign policy. I know we’re going to go into policy issues, and we can certainly go into that.
But there are people in Tennessee, there are moms like me who are making the decision of whether they’re going to fill up their grocery cart when they go to the Kroger or when they go to Publix or whether they’re going to fill up their car with a full tank of gas. And it’s only going to get worse right over the next three years with Biden.
Leahy: So the answer is “I’m not a carpetbagger.”
Ortagus: No. Absolutely not.
Leahy: Now, back to getting on the ballot. There’s a process for challenging people that are not bona fide Republicans. We’ve had reports that you’ve been challenged. They haven’t been verified yet. But if you’re challenged and it’s verified, you’re off the ballot until you’re restored, what would your plan be to get back on the ballot?
Ortagus: I think it’s important for the audience to know that President Trump endorsed me for a reason. He knew that I would be the best candidate in this race. And the reason is that he knew that I would be most able to fight for an America First agenda and for conservative Tennessee values in Congress.
He knows this because I worked for him. Not everybody knows me who’s listening; in fact, probably the majority of people don’t. But I spent my time in his administration working for him as his spokesperson at the Department of State.
I could go through a long list of foreign policy achievements, but we didn’t get those without a ton of hard work, without a ton of fighting. So he knows me well. He knows how I fight. I’ve been in the trenches with him. And I think President Trump – I’ve always stood by him, and now he’s standing by me.
Leahy: My guess is that it’s still in doubt whether or not you’ll get on the ballot as a Republican. If the Tennessee Republican Party determines you’re not eligible to be on the primary ballot, will you sue the party?
Ortagus: No. I’ve been very consistent about this. I’m a Conservative. I believe decisions should be made at the local level, and I respect those decisions.
Leahy: We made some news there.
Ortagus: Did we? Okay. I’m glad I could help you.
Leahy: We’ve made some news.
Ortagus: I did earn my donut.
Leahy: And your coffee. You’re doing fine. Last question on the recent-arrival question.
Ortagus: Sure.
Leahy: You’re holding your first public fundraiser on Wednesday in Washington, D.C. As far as I can tell, no one on the host committee is from Tennessee. Does holding that first public fundraiser in D.C. emphasize the fact that you have very little ties to Tennessee?
Ortagus: Oh, we’ve been fundraising a ton. In fact, one of the things that have been most surprising and most pleasing to me is how warm and welcoming everyone has been to me in Tennessee.
I have been going door to door from a fundraising perspective, talking to people who’ve been in the community, talking to them about why I moved here, the business we helped start. My husband is at GM, which has a plant in Spring Hill.
And I think really one of the most encouraging things to me has been how many people have been supportive of my candidacy, have already donated, have wanted me to run.
I think what people are really looking for, especially here in Middle Tennessee, they understand that, like me, so many people moved here for a better life for their children. They moved here so their children can be raised with conservative values, and their grandchildren.
Leahy: You mentioned your husband working at GM. He doesn’t work at the plant here in Spring Hill? He does policy stuff, right?
Ortagus: Yes. He works from home, but they do have a plant.
Leahy: Speaking of home, do you have a home in D.C. also?
Ortagus: We do, yeah. It’s rented.
Leahy: It’s rented, yeah. Okay. Great.
– – –
Tune in weekdays from 5:00 – 8:00 a.m. to The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy on Talk Radio 98.3 FM WLAC 1510. Listen online at iHeart Radio.
Photo “People Voting” by Phil Roeder CC BY 2.0.
