Six days have passed since the July 15 FEC finance report deadline for the reporting period covering April 1 through June 30, and Maury County Mayor Andy Ogles is now the only Tennessee Fifth Congressional District candidate who has not filed the required paperwork.
Paramedic Timothy Lee filed his campaign finance documents on Wednesday, making Ogles the only candidate in the nine-candidate field who has failed to file.
When asked why it took him so long to file, Lee told The Tennessee Star that he took responsibility and would accept a fine if levied.
According to public documents, Lee raised $1,606.00, spent $31,327.96, and had $11,842.78 cash on hand.
Lee’s campaign owes the candidate $44,850.00.
Ogles and his campaign have repeatedly told The Star that there had been issues retrieving bank records and those issues are the culprit behind his failure to file the required financial reports.
Furthermore, last Saturday, Ogles told The Star that he would probably file his report this Monday, July 18.
On July 18, The Star was told on at least two occasions that the report would be filed the following day.
Sources say that the Ogles campaign has reportedly told other individuals in several different conversations that the finance report was filed yesterday, is about to be filed, or will be filed “tomorrow afternoon.”
Some political observers don’t believe that bank issues are the real reason behind the lack of filing.
“It is probable that Ogles didn’t raise what he publicly claimed he raised or he didn’t do so in the manner that he previously claimed. If he didn’t raise what he claimed, he’s probably delaying so the Club for Growth-affiliated ads propping up his bid and attacking his opponents don’t stop. You make certain representations of your campaign’s financial viability when you receive backing like that and those groups don’t like being misled,” said one political observer familiar with the TN-5 race on the condition of background. “Ogles can’t claim ignorance of the ads because he’s publicly stated that Club for Growth was backing him.”
Another political observer said, “I don’t know what in the world Ogles is up to. I’ve never seen a purported top-tier candidate like this fail to file. It looks fishy and it stinks. It is either the most devious plan in the world or it is downright incompetence, which flies in the face of the image that the candidate has cultivated,” said another.
The Star previously reported that Ogles claimed in May that he raised $453,000 during the first month of his candidacy to secure the Republican nomination in Tennessee’s 5th Congressional District.
The Tennessee Journal reported on May 11 that the Ogles campaign said that “none of his fundraising total came in the form of loans and that all contributions were from within Tennessee.”
Early voting for the August 4 Republican primary is currently underway in the TN-5 race and runs through July 30.
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Aaron Gulbransen is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Email tips to [email protected]. Follow Aaron on GETTR, Twitter, Truth Social, and Parler.
Photo “Andy Ogles” by Andy Ogles.Â
