Trump-endorsed candidate Bill Hagerty wins Tennessee Senate GOP primary

Bill Hagerty.
(Image credit: Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images)

Bill Hagerty won the Tennessee Senate Republican primary on Thursday, defeating the 14 other candidates who hoped to replace retiring GOP Sen. Lamar Alexander.

Hagerty, 60, was President Trump's first ambassador to Japan, and received his endorsement. In recent weeks, the race tightened, as orthopedic surgeon Manny Sethi declared he was the true conservative running, not Hagerty. He pointed to Hagerty's friendship with Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) and his past work in private equity as proof of this; in turn, Hagerty claimed that because Sethi made a $50 donation to a Democratic candidate, he wasn't trustworthy.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.