Democrat Aftyn Behn narrowed Republicans’ longstanding advantage in Tennessee’s 7th Congressional District special election on December 2, 2025, a result Democrats are touting as evidence they can compete more aggressively in GOP-leaning territory ahead of the 2026 midterms, even as internal debates continue over the party’s ideological direction.
On December 2, 2025, Tennessee held a special election for the U.S. House in the 7th Congressional District, a seat former President Donald Trump carried by roughly 22 points in 2024. Republican Matt Van Epps defeated Democratic state Rep. Aftyn Behn by about 9 percentage points, according to official results and multiple news outlets, marking a swing of roughly 13 points toward Democrats compared with the 2024 presidential margin.
The race played out on a Nashville-based district that was redrawn in 2022 to favor Republicans. Behn, a Democratic state legislator from Nashville, cut into the GOP’s usual edge but still fell short in a contest that both parties treated as an early test of voter sentiment heading into the 2026 midterm elections.
Republican-aligned groups poured millions of dollars into the race, including significant spending on television and digital ads attacking Behn as too far left. Conservative organizations highlighted her past comments in which she described herself as “radical” and criticized immigration agents and state police, and some Republicans sought to brand her the “AOC of Tennessee,” according to reporting by the Washington Post and other outlets. Behn, who has worked as an organizer on health care and other social issues, centered much of her messaging on the rising cost of living, repeatedly emphasizing affordability and kitchen-table economic concerns.
Turnout in the special election was unusually high for an off-year House contest. Roughly 180,000 voters cast ballots, a level similar to participation in the district’s 2022 midterm election, according to Associated Press reporting. That performance, while below presidential-year turnout, reinforced Democrats’ claims that their voters remain energized in the early Trump-era midterm environment.
Democratic strategists point to the Tennessee result as part of a broader pattern of overperformance in 2025 contests, following convincing Democratic wins in the New Jersey and Virginia gubernatorial races and other off-year elections. In House special elections this year, Democratic candidates have on average run well ahead of Vice President Kamala Harris’s 2024 margins in the same districts, according to national media analyses, although the shift in Behn’s favor was among the smaller gains.
The outcome has encouraged Democrats to talk about widening their House battlefield for 2026. Party strategists and allied groups have floated an expanded map of Republican-held seats to target and say Senate races in states such as Ohio, Florida, Alaska, Texas and Iowa could also prove more competitive if the current trend holds, according to memos and commentary circulated by Democratic campaign organizations.
At the same time, the Tennessee result has sharpened longstanding arguments inside the party over ideology and candidate selection. Centrist Democrats and some outside groups have questioned whether a more moderate nominee could have pushed the race closer or even flipped the seat, noting that Behn openly embraced progressive positions on issues such as abortion rights and marijuana legalization. Leaders at Third Way, a centrist Democratic think tank, argued after the election that nominating candidates who describe themselves as “radical” in swing or right-leaning districts risks alienating the moderate voters needed to build durable majorities.
Republicans, for their part, claimed victory while acknowledging signs of strain. Van Epps held the seat for the GOP and was quickly sworn in, bolstering Republicans’ narrow House majority. But several Republican officials and conservative commentators have publicly warned that a single-digit win in a historically red district, coming on the heels of recent GOP setbacks in other states, should serve as a cautionary signal heading into 2026. They argue the party will need to sharpen its economic message and address voter concerns over costs and affordability if it hopes to avoid further erosion in similar districts.
Local Democrats in Middle Tennessee see the race as a model for future campaigns in Republican-leaning areas. Candidates challenging nearby GOP incumbents have pointed to the Tennessee 7th District contest as evidence that running on cost-of-living issues and casting themselves as pragmatic problem-solvers can narrow the gap, even where Republicans have enjoyed double-digit advantages in recent cycles.
For now, both parties are treating the Tennessee special election as a warning sign — Democrats view the closer-than-expected result as proof their message on affordability and abortion rights is gaining traction, while Republicans see it as a reminder that strong national headwinds and energized opposition could complicate their efforts to defend the House majority in 2026.
