AP
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Matt Van Epps, a former commissioner in Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee’s administration who was endorsed by President Donald Trump, and Democratic state Rep. Aftyn Behn received their crowded major races Tuesday and will face off in December in a special election to exchange a GOP congressman who left workplace this summer time.
Van Epps clinched victory with the presidential endorsement that got here after in-person early voting ended. Eleven Republicans had been on the poll for the seat vacated by former US Rep. Mark Green. Two amongst them, together with state Rep. Lee Reeves, suspended their campaigns after Trump weighed in, and they likewise endorsed Van Epps.
“Thank you to the people of Middle and West Tennessee! Our Donald J. Trump-endorsed campaign won in a landslide tonight,” Van Epps mentioned Tuesday evening on social media. “Now, on to December 2nd! We’re going to win the general and keep this seat RED!”
Trump praised Van Epps’ major win, writing in a Truth Social post, “Congratulations to Matt Van Epps on his great victory in Tennessee. He will be a GREAT Congressman!!!”
The normal election in December may gauge the recognition of Trump’s aggressive second-term agenda, particularly with suburban Republican voters.
The seat is one among three districts that GOP lawmakers drew as safely crimson in 2022 by dividing left-leaning Nashville. Its voters elected Green by 21 proportion factors in 2024 and by almost 22 factors in 2022.
During the marketing campaign, Van Epps leaned into his army expertise, together with as a Tennessee Army National Guard lieutenant colonel and as an Army Special Operations helicopter pilot. Among the opponents he defeated had been state Reps. Jody Barrett and Gino Bulso.
Trump’s backing adopted Van Epps’ prior endorsements from Gov. Lee, Green and US Rep. Jim Jordan.
Behn bested fellow state Reps. Bo Mitchell and Vincent Dixie and businessperson Darden Copeland in the Democratic major.
Behn is a social employee and group organizer. One of her focuses has been on girls’s reproductive well being rights, together with as a plaintiff in a lawsuit in opposition to a Tennessee regulation banning adults from serving to minors get an abortion with out parental permission. A choose halted the supply’s enforcement.
On the marketing campaign path, the Democratic candidates attacked the laws Trump dubbed the “Big, Beautiful Bill,” in addition to his tariffs.
The seventh Congressional District spans 14 counties, bordering each Kentucky and Alabama. Along with elements of Nashville, it contains rural areas, rich suburbs and a part of a army installment, Fort Campbell.
Outside teams spent greater than $3.1 million on the race, virtually all on the GOP facet, with about $1.1 million opposing Barrett.
The Republican contenders praised Trump and expressed staunch opposition to something perceived as liberal or “woke.”
The special election provided state House members an attractive probability to run for Congress with out forfeiting their seats or operating simultaneous races.
Of its 9 seats in the US House, Tennessee at present has one Democrat, Rep. Steve Cohen of Memphis. Republican redistricting in 2022 allowed the GOP to flip one other Democratic seat that was drawn to embody solely a part of Nashville.