Tennessee Republican U.S. Senate candidate Bill Hagerty won his primary, a contest that tested the power of President Trump’s endorsement.
Hagerty, Trump’s former ambassador to Japan, and main rival Manny Sethi tuned out the other 13 contenders and turned on one another during the closing weeks of their campaigns to replace retiring GOP Sen. Lamar Alexander in the fall.
Hagerty, who earned Trump’s support a year ago and hosted two phone calls between the president and Tennessee voters, was the favorite. But polls leading up to their Thursday election had Sethi, an Indian American orthopedic trauma surgeon, gaining on his opponent. The insurgent movement triggered a slew of attacks at events and on the airwaves.
Hagerty accused Sethi of being a “phony conservative,” backing Trump when it is “convenient.” At the same time, he pushed for Trump policies such as stopping illegal immigration and confirming “constitutionalist” judges.
Sethi, who pegged himself as a pro-Trump, anti-establishment outsider, mocked Hagerty in response. He described the private equity firm founder as a “Washington insider” and “Mitt Romney Republican,” who, in 2016, endorsed former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, then Florida Sen. Marco Rubio before becoming the Trump Victory Committee’s Tennessee finance chairman. Hagerty returned a donation from Romney, a friend of his from the 1980s, this cycle.
Sethi also called on Trump to fire Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious diseases expert, for his advice during the COVID-19 pandemic after facing questions over his and Hagerty’s decision to continue in-person campaigning.
The primary split the Republican Party.
Hagerty had Trump, Sens. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee and Tom Cotton of Arkansas, and former Gov. Bill Haslam in his corner. Sethi was boosted by Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas and Rand Paul of Kentucky, ex-South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint, radio host Mark Levin, and the Protect Freedom PAC, which spent more than $800,000 on him. All up, the candidates and outside groups doled out roughly $9 million on the contest.
The winner will face Democrat James Mackler, an attorney and Army Iraq War veteran, for the safe GOP seat in the Nov. 3 general election.
