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In a race that drew national attention and brought leaders from both major parties to Middle Tennessee to campaign, Republican Matt Van Epps pulled out a narrow win over Democratic Rep. Aftyn Behn in the special election for Tennessee’s 7th Congressional District.
Van Epps edged Behn by nearly 9 percentage points in a district Democrats have lost by more than 20 percentage points over the last several election cycles. With more than 95% of the votes counted, Van Epps pulled in 53.9% of the vote while Behn earned 45.1%.
“Tonight, you sent a clear message loud and clear,” Van Epps said to the crowd at the Millennium Maxwell House Hotel in Nashville during his election night party. “The people of Middle Tennessee stand proudly behind President Donald Trump.”
Van Epps went on to specifically thank Trump for his help and added that “running away from Trump is how you lose, running with Trump is how you win.”
“In Congress, I will be all in with him and together we will bring down the cost of living,” said Van Epps.
In spite of the Republican win Tuesday, the Democratic surge became a focal talking point in a district President Donald Trump won by 22% in 2024 — and became a referendum on his second administration.
Van Epps described himself as a “MAGA warrior” in his ads and promised to back up Trump, while Behn ran on a slogan of “Feed kids, fix roads, fund hospitals,” addressing messages to working-class Tennesseans.
Behn, elected to the Tennessee General Assembly during a 2023 special election, has sponsored legislative measures to end the state’s 4% tax on groceries and a bill that would legalize marijuana and use the tax revenue from sales for highway repairs.
She won a four-way Democratic primary in October against three better-funded candidates, including two other state lawmakers.
“The Republicans made these districts to be uncompetitive and we did not back down,” Behn told her supporters Tuesday night, saying she asked Van Epps not to let subsidies supporting the Affordable Care Act lapse.
“We have inspired an entire country,” she said.
Van Epps, a West Point graduate and combat veteran who worked in Gov. Bill Lee’s administration, beat 10 Republicans in his primary, benefiting from large cash infusions by outside groups and Montgomery County’s pro-military voting bloc. The county is home to the U.S. Army’s Ft. Campbell and the 101st Airborne Division.
Triggered by the July resignation of U.S. Rep. Mark Green, a Republican, the race morphed into one of national significance after the Nov. 4 elections across the country in which Democrats won gubernatorial elections in Virginia and New Jersey and Mississippi Democrats broke a Republican supermajority legislature.
The election of Democratic Socialist Zohran Mamdani as New York Mayor also played a factor in the Tennessee election, with Republicans comparing Behn negatively to him.
Millions of dollars poured into the race, and national political figures became involved, with Trump endorsing Van Epps and U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson stumping for the Republican nominee on Monday.
Two former vice presidents — Al Gore, a native Tennessean, and Kamala Harris — weighed in on Behn’s behalf, as did U.S. Reps. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez of New York and Pramila Jayapal of Washington and the chairs of both the Democratic and Republican National Committees.
Democrats last won District 7 in 1980, before once-a-decade redistricting moved then-U.S. Rep. Ed Jones, a Democrat, into District 8.
During the 2022 redistricting process, Green expressed concern about new maps drawing portions of Nashville/Davidson County — which historically votes Democratic — into District 7, calling them “inherently unfair.”
After Democratic candidates lost to Green in both 2018 and 2020 by more than 30%, margins narrowed following the most recent redistricting.
The 7th District has proven to be a launching pad for representatives: Don Sundquist, who held the seat from 1983 to 1997, became Tennessee governor, while Marsha Blackburn, who held the seat from 2003 to 2018, is now a U.S. Senator and gubernatorial candidate.
by J. Holly McCall, Tennessee Lookout
Tennessee Lookout is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Tennessee Lookout maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Holly McCall for questions: info@tennesseelookout.com.
