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Republicans held on to a ruby red congressional district, winning a special election in Tennessee that became more competitive than initially expected.
The victory by Matt Van Epps, a 42-year-old former lieutenant colonel in the Tennessee Army National Guard who aligned himself with President Donald Trump, capped a contest that served as the latest test of voters' attitudes about Trump's agenda and Democrats' response less than a year before the midterms. Van Epps defeated Aftyn Behn, a 36-year-old left-leaning state representative who frequently mentioned economic concerns on the campaign trail.
Van Epps's win in the 7th District, projected by the Associated Press on Tuesday night, preserves Republicans' 219-213 advantage in the House. But his final margin was on pace to be much smaller than the 22-point edge Trump had in the district last year and the 21-point win Republican Rep. Mark Green - who resigned from Congress in July - secured the same day. With 98 percent of the vote tallied, Van Epps led Behn by more than eight percentage points.
Republican were nervous heading into Tuesday's election, as some party operatives acknowledged that the race should not have been as competitive as it appeared to be in the final stages. Right-leaning groups flooded the airwaves with money and both Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) stumped for Van Epps. Such attention is not typically seen in areas where the party has consistently faced no serious opposition.
Behn's embrace of liberal positions on law enforcement, immigration and transgender rights, among other things, gave Republicans plenty to work with down the stretch, and their portrayals of her as an extremist proved difficult for the Democrat to fully overcome.
Van Epps, echoing the Republicans who helped him at the close of his campaign, nationalized the contest as he celebrated his win, arguing the victory "represented a defining moment for Tennessee and for the direction of the country" and showed that "running with Trump is how you win" as a Republican. Van Epps did not acknowledge his apparent margin of victory in his statement.
Trump celebrated Van Epps' win on Tuesday, congratulating the Republican in a post on Truth Social and calling it a "great night" for his party.
Democrats pointed to Van Epps's margin of victory as a reason for enthusiasm headed into 2026. "What happened tonight in Tennessee makes it clear: Democrats are on offense and Republicans are on the ropes," said Ken Martin, chair of the Democratic National Committee. "The fact that Republicans spent millions to protect this Trump +22 district and still lost so much ground should have the GOP shaking in their boots."
The election was a final exam of sorts for both parties at the end of a tumultuous political year. Trump's approval rating is in negative territory, polls show, leaving Republicans nervous about 2026 and dealing with Democratic attacks over inflation and the cost of living, which Behn repeatedly lobbed.
"We've dumped just an absolute ton of money, a lot of resources, both from a financial perspective and a manpower perspective, after the primary," Joe Gruters, chair of the Republican National Committee, said on local Tennessee TV on Tuesday.
Democrats were invigorated by their sweeping electoral victories last month in Virginia, New Jersey and beyond, but many have remained troubled by polls showing that the public holds them in low regard. Their showing on Tuesday falls short of the upset win many had hoped for, but it marked the latest in a string of overperformances in special elections, continuing a trend of doing well in lower-profile contests, while Republicans have excelled at motivating voters to come out when Trump is on the ballot.
Democratic candidates made gains this year in a special election for the state Senate in Georgia, in an Iowa state Senate district that Trump had carried comfortably, and in a state Supreme Court race in Wisconsin. Whether that momentum will transfer into higher-profile midterm contests remains to be seen.
"2026 is going to be a great year to run for office as a Democrat," said Amanda Litman, co-founder of Run for Something, a liberal group focused on down-ballot contests that helped Behn when she won her state House seat in 2023. "Our job is to make sure we're competing in as many places as possible and not pre-emptively narrowing our focus."
Ahead of Tuesday's election, strategists in both parties said they saw a tight race down the stretch that tilted toward the Republican candidate, as each side flooded the district with money, ads and prominent surrogates.
That national attention was evident on Monday, with dueling virtual events, one featuring Trump and Johnson stumping for Van Epps, and another that Behn hosted with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-New York) and former vice president Al Gore.
Party strategists saw the competition as something of a testing ground for tactics ahead of the midterms, featuring platforms from both candidates that are expected to resurface in the midterms.
Behn ran as a change candidate focusing on affordability, decrying high prices, inflation and GOP economic policies such as Trump's tariffs. "If we get close," she said in a pre-election interview with The Washington Post, it will be because of the "affordability crisis that we are experiencing in Tennessee and the fact that the federal administration has not delivered an economic agenda to address the needs of working people in the state."
Van Epps touted Trump as "a true 'America First' patriot who has dedicated his entire life to serving our country." The GOP nominee portrayed Behn as too extreme for the district, pointing to her support for transgender rights and ties to top Democrats, among other things. He closed his campaign Monday with a pitch to Trump supporters, telling them that, if elected, he would "help President Trump save the nation we love." Trump joined him remotely, suggesting the race carried very high stakes.
"Remember, the world is watching this one," Trump said, as he acknowledged the result will be viewed as a judgment of his second term. "I need somebody like Matt Van Epps. He is going to be one of our best congressmen," Trump added.
Independent pre-election polling in the race was scarce, but surveys showed Van Epps with a single-digit lead over Behn. The Tennessee district, which stretches from north to south across the state, was redistricted in 2022, when state Republicans eliminated a Democratic district centered on Nashville and dispersed its voters across three nearby Republican districts. Behn worked to leverage that change to her advantage by bringing out the predominantly African American areas of Nashville that were added to the district.
Republicans across the political spectrum tried to head off Democratic momentum in the campaign with attacks casting Behn as too far left and branding her as "the AOC of Tennessee." A super PAC aligned with Trump aired ads in the contest, its first spending since the president was elected. Right-leaning organizations such as the Club for Growth Action, Conservatives for American Excellence PAC and the RNC spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on the contest.
The Democratic National Committee recruited volunteers and helped Behn organize, while House Majority PAC, a super PAC closely aligned with Democratic congressional leadership in the House, spent $1 million on TV and digital ads in the race. Your Community PAC, a Democratic group, aired ads in the district that hit Van Epps for initially opposing the release of the government's files on convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Van Epps, like Trump and other Republicans, has since flipped his stance and supports releasing the files. But Behn aired an ad that accused Van Epps of "burying the Epstein files." Van Epps, on the day the House overwhelmingly voted to compel the release, wrote on social media that he is "with President Trump 100%" and "would vote to release the Epstein files, no hesitation."
Behn also ran ads that criticized Trump's economic policies without explicitly naming him, an apparent effort to strike a balance in an area where the president has many loyal backers. "We are trying to mobilize our people without mobilizing theirs," she said in the pre-election interview.
Republicans on Tuesday night attributed the tighter-than-expected margin to the unusual timing of the election. "The reality is, Tennesseans don't get out to vote in off years, and without the president at the top of the ticket, there was really no inspiration to get out," said Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tennessee).
The ways both campaigns addressed the topic of affordability - an issue Democrats used effectively to win races earlier this year - signaled a continued political fight headed toward next year's election that has worried some Republicans. Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tennessee) called Van Epps "a proven warrior" who, among other things, is "focused on the cost of living" and "the price of gas and groceries." Van Epps said on Monday that, if elected, he would work with Trump to "bring down the cost of living."
Behn did not shy away from her liberal positions, giving Republicans a clear target for criticism in a very conservative district. She touted her support for abortion rights and legalizing recreational marijuana, while Van Epps attacked her for opposing the Trump administration's crackdown on undocumented immigrants.
"I'm not a moderate White guy, but I am an organizer and I'm a Tennessean," Behn said in the pre-election interview with The Post, citing a chance to "rewrite the Democratic playbook in the South."
Former vice president Kamala Harris (D) rallied Behn supporters last month, but she did not appear onstage with the Democratic candidate and never explicitly mentioned her name. "This is a moment in the history of our country, right now, where the leadership from the ground, from the neighborhood, from the community, matters more than ever," said Harris, who lost Tennessee by 30 percentage points in 2024.
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