Republican Matt Van Epps will win the special US House election for Tennessee’s seventh District, NCS’s Decision Desk initiatives, stopping an upset however emboldening Democrats as they had been on monitor to over-perform in a usually deep-red district.
His win over Democrat Aftyn Behn permits the GOP to retain the seat beforehand held by former Rep. Mark Green, who resigned in July to take a private-sector job.
Leading as much as Tuesday’s special election, Republicans had increasingly feared what would have been a disastrous loss in a district President Donald Trump gained by 22 proportion factors simply 13 months in the past. While Democrats notched large wins within the Virginia and New Jersey governors’ races final month, a flip in Republican-led Tennessee would have been a way more surprising victory.
Democrats together with Behn argued earlier than Tuesday that even a slender loss would present momentum for his or her celebration’s concentrate on cost-of-living points.
“This is a testament that Democrats can compete in high-turnout elections, because we’re seeing a hyper high turnout right now in a special election,” Behn informed NCS’s Kaitlan Collins on Tuesday evening.
The Democratic-aligned House Majority PAC, which ran adverts backing Behn, argued the comparatively shut margins Tuesday evening “should be a five-alarm fire for the GOP.”
“Tonight’s results make it clear: No House Republican’s reelection should be considered safe next November,” spokesperson CJ Warnke mentioned in a press release.
Van Epps, a former Army helicopter pilot, beforehand served because the commissioner of the Tennessee Department of General Services. He gained the Republican main in October with endorsements from Trump and Gov. Bill Lee.
House Speaker Mike Johnson hit the marketing campaign path for Van Epps within the last stretch Monday, and Trump known as right into a tele-rally for the GOP nominee, the place he mentioned he needs to see Van Epps “do better than me” within the special election outcomes.
“This would be a wonderful victory for us,” Trump mentioned. “It’ll be a really positive sign.”
Trump known as Behn a “radical left lunatic” who “doesn’t like country music — I would say for Nashville, that’s not so good.”
Behn, a Democratic state consultant who first gained her seat in a 2023 special election, rejected that characterization in an interview with NCS. She’s additionally famous her feedback about not liking Nashville and nation music had been complaints concerning the metropolis’s tourism trade affecting life for residents.
“I don’t think it’s radical to have spent my entire career organizing to make healthcare more affordable or groceries cheaper,” she mentioned.
Meanwhile, Democratic leaders together with former Vice President Al Gore and New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez joined a tele-rally for Behn on election eve on Monday.
Gore, a former Tennessee congressman and senator, mentioned that “having had the privilege of representing Tennessee in years past, I want to tell you that I have never seen the political tides shift as far and as fast as we’re seeing them move in this election.”
The House GOP’s majority will develop to 220-213 after Van Epps is sworn in. Johnson has a good margin that may shrink once more when Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene resigns in January, and with Democrats favored to win two extra seats in special elections in Texas and New Jersey early subsequent yr, one created by the loss of life of Texas Rep. Sylvester Turner and the opposite by New Jersey Gov.-elect Mikie Sherrill’s resignation.
“Right now, every single seat matters, and this special election will fill an important one for us,” Johnson informed reporters Monday evening after an occasion in Clarksville.
NCS’s David Wright and Kathryn Squyres contributed to this report.