Key issues • Tennessee

Republican congressional candidate says “we need to… go after gay marriage”

A Republican congressional candidate in Tennessee is facing backlash for saying that the federal government should repeal same-sex marriage rights.

“We are a republic of free states,” congressional candidate and Maury County Mayor Andy Ogles (R) said at a candidate forum in June hosted by the Republican Party of Wilson County as part of the primary campaign. “So California has the right to be liberal. Tennessee has the right to be conservative.”

“What the Supreme Court has done with Roe v. Wade and also with overturning the New York gun ban is standing firm on the 10th Amendment,” he continued. “The next thing we need to do is go after gay marriage. We need to revert that back to the states, so each and every state can decide her destiny.”

“As a member of Congress, we’ll empower the states to take action on those issues, whether it’s guns, marriage, or abortion.”

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