Never Trumper political consultant and lobbyist Tom Ingram is one of the founders of The Best of Tennessee, which last month sent $140,000 to the Conservatives with Character super PAC that recently began a $140,000 ad campaign supporting Metro Councilwoman Courtney Johnston in her effort to unseat Representative Andy Ogles (R-TN-05) in the Tennessee Republican primary on August 1.
Ingram (pictured above) was listed as one of three founders of The Best of Tennessee in April by Tennessee Lookout, which reported the group’s founders also include pro-abortion attorney Chloe Akers and seasoned political fundraiser Kim Kaegi, who is also the treasurer for the Johnston campaign.
He became well known in Tennessee politics in 1978 when he helped former Senator Lamar Alexander defeat Jake Butcher amid controversy generated by outgoing Governor Ray Blanton. Ingram continued working with Alexander through his years in the U.S. Senate until the senator retired in 2021.
The Ingram Group, a consulting and lobbying firm Ingram runs, generated $5 million in 2023, the Nashville Business Journal reported in June. Ingram also told the outlet his firm has existed for more than 40 years, boasts 15 employees, and generates 25 to 30 percent of its revenue from lobbying.
In 2022, Ingram delivered a speech that News Channel 11 reported was titled “Make Politics Great Again.” While the outlet confirmed that the name was a nod to former President Donald Trump’s campaign slogan, the outlet reported, “It’s clear when you speak to Ingram, he doesn’t mean it as a compliment” to the former president.
“We have Republicans who won’t speak to Republicans, and Democrats who won’t speak to Democrats,” Ingram reportedly complained in his 2022 speech to the East Tennessee Republican Club in Johnson City after calling American politics “dysfunctional.”
The outlet reported Ingram told attendees he is an independent voter “with deep respect for Democrats,” including former Governor Ned McWherter and former Senator Anna Belle Clement O’Brien.
Years prior, following the tragic Charleston Church Shooting that occurred in South Carolina, Ingram penned a July 2, 2015, opinion article for The Tennessean in which he declared his support for the removal of the Confederate battle flag from the South Carolina House of Representatives.
After celebrating that protesters did not tear the flag down, Ingram wrote he was hopeful it would “be removed permanently on another day following an orderly legislative debate.”
Former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley signed legislation to require the immediate removal of the flag on July 9, 2015.
Conservatives with Character treasurer Randy Stamps confirmed to The Tennessee Star on Tuesday the group was behind the recent political mailers that juxtaposed images of Trump and Johnston, despite the former president having endorsed Ogles’ bid for reelection last year.
Stamps also told The Star he thinks The Best of Tennessee and Conservatives with Character are “of the same mindset” and presented Johnston with an effective, principled alternative to Ogles, whom he called an “embarrassment” to the Republican Party.
In an apparent reference to Trump, he argued, “there’s still a lot of Republicans that want to think through things and not just follow some personality and let that personality totally dominate the Republican Party.”
Ogles told The Star on Monday the mailers were sent in the wake of the assassination attempt on Trump’s life, and stated, “[f]or my opponent to exploit Trump’s name at a time like this for the sake of deceptive politics is disgraceful and despicable.”
Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Pennsylvania Daily Star and The Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to pappert.tom@proton.me.
Photo “Tom Ingram” by Ingram Group. Background Photo “Tennessee Capitol” by FaceMePLS. CC BY 2.0.
