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NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Republicans will maintain onto a GOP-controlled vacant congressional seat in ruby-red Tennessee after successful a hotly contested particular election that grabbed loads of nationwide consideration.
Republican nominee Matt Van Epps on Tuesday defeated Democratic rival Aftyn Behn, in keeping with the Related Press, within the high-stakes race to succeed former GOP Rep. Mark Inexperienced, who resigned from workplace in June to take a personal sector job.
“This race was larger than only one marketing campaign,”Van Epps stated in an announcement after declaring victory. “It represented a defining second for Tennessee and for the path of the nation.”
With the GOP clinging to a razor-thin majority within the Home, the particular election was seen as a must-win for Republicans.
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Republican congressional nominee Matt Van Epps greets supporters exterior a polling station on Election Day in Franklin, Tennessee, on Dec. 2, 2025. (Paul Steinhauser/Fox Information)
President Donald Trump carried the seventh Congressional District — which is positioned in central and western Tennessee, stretches from Kentucky to Alabama, and consists of elements of Nashville — by 22 factors in final yr’s presidential election. And Inexperienced gained the district by over 20 factors in his 2022 and 2024 re-elections.
However Democrats had been energized following their decisive victories in final month’s 2025 elections, and public opinion surveys recommended an in depth contest between Van Epps and Behn in a showdown that was seen as a key barometer forward of subsequent yr’s midterm elections, when the GOP will likely be defending its majority.
With some votes nonetheless being counted, Van Epps was headed in direction of a nine-point victory.
WATCH: WHAT AFTYN BEHN TOLD FOX NEWS DIGITAL ON ELECTION EVE
Requested by Fox Information Digital on Tuesday morning if he wanted to win the election by a sure margin, Van Epps stated, “a win is a win.”
However the navy fight veteran and former commissioner of the Tennessee Division of Normal Providers added that “we’ll press as onerous as we are able to to win by the largest margin we are able to, after which we’ll maintain the bulk in ’26.”
Behn, a state consultant and former healthcare neighborhood organizer, who’s been dubbed the “AOC of Tennessee” in a comparability to progressive champion Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, stated in her concession speech, “Though tonight shouldn’t be the ultimate results of what we needed…it’s the starting of one thing so highly effective in Tennessee and throughout the South.”
She delivered the same message to supporters at a neighborhood Democratic Celebration workplace in Nashville on Tuesday morning.
“No matter occurs, win or lose, you’ve impressed a rustic. You’ve proven individuals the South has one thing to say,” Behn stated.
“For me, we have already gained over the hearts and minds of so many Tennesseans and throughout the nation,” Behn informed Fox Information Digital minutes later when requested if she’s a winner even with out an election victory. “What begins right here modifications this nation.”
And she or he added, “I believe the citizens is shifting to just accept a candidate like me that has a progressive monitor report.”
Behn was laser centered throughout her marketing campaign on two key points, affordability and well being care.
However Nationwide Republican Congressional Committee chair Rep. Richard Hudson, in congratulating Van Epps, emphasised that “Tennesseans know they’ll belief Van Epps to combat for his or her security, safety, and prosperity. Nobody is best positioned to take up the mantle and ship outcomes for Tennessee households, employees, and small enterprise homeowners.”
Republican congressional nominee Matt Van Epps celebrates with supporters after successful a particular election in Tennessee’s seventh District, on Dec. 2, 2025 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Paul Steinhauser/Fox Information)
Trump, whose endorsement of Van Epps helped the candidate win a crowded and aggressive main final month, took to social media to congratulate “Van Epps on his BIG Congressional WIN.”
“One other nice evening for the Republican Celebration!!!” the president stated in his social media put up.
And Van Epps, in his victory speech, stated “Our victory was powered by a motion of Tennesseans which might be prepared for change. We’re grateful to the President for his unwavering assist that charted this motion and catapulted us to victory. President Trump was all-in with us. That made the distinction. In Congress, I’ll be all-in with him.”
Republican nominee Matt Van Epps delivers a victory speech after successful a particular congressional election in Tennessee’s seventh District, on Dec. 2, 2025 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Paul Steinhauser/Fox Information)
However Democratic Nationwide Committee Chair Ken Martin stated in an announcement, “What occurred tonight in Tennessee makes it clear: Democrats are on offense and Republicans are on the ropes.”
“Aftyn Behn’s overperformance on this Trump +22 district is historic and a flashing warning signal for Republicans heading into the midterms,” Martin argued. “The truth that Republicans spent tens of millions to guard this Trump +22 district and nonetheless misplaced a lot floor ought to have the GOP shaking of their boots. Democrats are all gasoline and no brakes as we head into subsequent yr, organizing in every single place and competing in elections throughout the nation. “
And Home Majority PAC, the highest tremendous PAC supporting congressional Democrats, claimed, “Tonight’s outcomes make it clear: No Home Republican’s re-election needs to be thought of secure subsequent November.”
Requested concerning the Democrats’ feedback, Van Epps informed Fox Information Digital after his Election Evening speech that “now we have the resounding victory. This can be a victory for Republicans. It’s a victory for our district. It’s a victory for President Trump.”
“We’re going to take this momentum ahead, and we’re going to win in 2026,” he predicted.
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With a lot on the road, exterior teams aligned with each events shelled out tens of millions of {dollars} to run adverts within the race. And the Democratic Nationwide Committee (DNC) and the rival Republican Nationwide Committee (RNC) every poured assets into the showdown, which included dispatching staffers onto the marketing campaign path.
Home Speaker Mike Johnson spent your complete day on Election Eve with Van Epps, becoming a member of the GOP nominee at a slew of rallies and stops throughout the district. He was joined by RNC chair Joe Gruters.
Republican congressional nominee Matt Van Epps is joined by Home Speaker Mike Johnson at an Election Eve rally in Franklin, Tennessee, on Dec. 1, 2025. (Paul Steinhauser/Fox Information)
“We will win this seat, however we can not take something without any consideration,” Johnson stated in an interview with Fox Information Digital.
“Particular elections are unusual as a result of lots of people take without any consideration in a deep crimson district like this that the Republican is simply going to win mechanically. Nothing’s automated. So we’re right here to assist end up the vote and ensure we get this nice candidate proper over that line,” Johnson stated.
Aiming to encourage low-propensity Trump supporters, who typically do not vote when the president’s not on the poll, Johnson emphasised that “we want everyone to end up.”
Earlier than introducing Van Epps at Monday’s first rally, Johnson known as Trump on his cellular phone, and the president spoke to the group for over 4 minutes.
“Let’s make it a sweeping victory,” Trump stated. “The entire world is watching Tennessee proper now. And so they’re watching your district. The entire world. It’s a giant vote. It’s going to point out one thing. It is acquired to point out that the Republican Celebration is stronger than it is ever been.”
Trump joined Van Epps later within the day for a night tele rally.
In one other signal of the significance of holding the seat, Republican Gov. Invoice Lee, GOP Sens. Marsha Blackburn and Invoice Hagerty, in addition to Republican members of Congress from Tennessee, state GOP lawmakers and rival candidates who misplaced to Van Epps in final month’s main, campaigned with him on Monday.
Behn additionally loved last-minute assist from high-profile surrogates.
Ocasio-Cortez; Rep. Pramila Jayapal of Washington state, who chaired the Congressional Progressive Caucus the previous 4 years; Black Voters Matter Fund co-founder LaTosha Brown and former Vice President Al Gore, a Tennessee native, all spoke at an Election Eve digital rally.
“The rationale this race is aggressive is as a result of I’ve been at neighborhood gatherings, potlucks, funerals, weddings, with the voters within the seventh district, and so they do not forget that,” Behn informed Fox Information Digital.
Behn confronted repeated assaults that she’s out of step with voters within the district.
“She doesn’t symbolize the values of Tennessee or of America. She is as far left as you will get. She’s a radical,” Van Epps claimed in his Fox Information Digital interview. “We’ve got to reject that ideology. And we’ll do this tomorrow.”
Johnson argued on Monday that Behn was a “radical” and “a harmful far leftist. And she or he will likely be a rubber stamp for Hakeem Jeffries and AOC and all of the radicals in Congress.”
And Trump, repeating feedback he remodeled the weekend on social media, charged that Behn “hates Christianity” and “hates nation music.”
Trump was referring to previous feedback Behn comprised of a 2020 podcast.
Democratic nominee State Rep. Aftyn Behn speaks to supporters at a watch occasion after shedding a particular election for the U.S. seventh congressional district, Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2025, in Nashville, Tenn. (George Walker IV/AP Photograph)
“I hate town, I hate the bachelorettes, I hate the pedal taverns, I hate nation music, I hate the entire issues that make Nashville apparently an ‘it’ metropolis to the remainder of the nation. However I hate it,” she stated within the podcast.
TENNESSEE DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATE CAUGHT SAYING ‘I HATE NASHVILLE’ AND ‘COUNTRY MUSIC’ IN RESURFACED CLIP
The district is solidly crimson, however consists of elements of the Democratic stronghold of Nashville, Tennessee’s capital and its most populous metropolis, and a serious nationwide middle for the nation music business. The district encompasses elements of north and west Nashville, together with the downtown space which has lengthy been a very talked-about vacationer vacation spot.
Behn, in a CNN interview on Sunday, famous that she was a “non-public citizen” when she made the feedback. “Nashville is my residence. Do I roll my eyes on the bachelorette events and the pedal taverns which might be blocking my entry to my home? Yeah. Each Nashvillian does. However this race has at all times been about one thing larger. It is about households throughout center Tennessee which might be getting crushed by rising costs.”
Democratic congressional nominee Aftyn Behn speaks to supporters at a celebration workplace on Election Eve, in Franklin, Tennessee, on Dec. 1, 2025. (Paul Steinhauser/Fox Information)
Republicans additionally took goal at Behn over an op-ed titled, “Tennessee is a racist state, and so is its legislature,” that appeared in a 2019 version of The Tennessean newspaper.
The RNC, pointing in a latest social media put up to the six-year-old opinion piece, requested, “If Behn hates Tennessee a lot, why is she attempting to symbolize it?”
Additionally resurfacing in latest weeks are anti-police feedback Behn made on a now-deleted social media account.
“Clearly, I am dwelling rent-free in President Trump’s thoughts,” Behn informed supporters on Monday.
And requested by Fox Information Digital concerning the incoming verbal fireplace from Republicans, Behn joked, “I at all times love to listen to from my followers.”
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She touted that “I’ve a monitor report of displaying up within the onerous fights and small fights in between, not solely as an organizer and as an activist, however as a legislator.”
And sticking to her key challenge of tackling the excessive price of dwelling, Behn stated she’s “operating on a quite simple message of addressing the affordability disaster that Tennesseans are dealing with, and so they [Republicans] haven’t got a treatment for it.
Fox Information’ Asher Redd contributed to this story
