Voters in Tennessee’s 7th Congressional District headed to the polls on December 2, 2025, for a special election between Republican Matt Van Epps and Democrat Aftyn Behn to replace resigned Rep. Mark Green. The race, in a district Donald Trump carried by more than 20 points in 2024, has drawn national attention and millions of dollars in outside interest as polls suggested a competitive contest, with one recent survey showing Van Epps leading by 2 points, within the margin of error.
The vacancy arose after Republican Rep. Mark Green announced his resignation earlier in 2025, leaving open a seat in a strongly Republican district that includes downtown Nashville, much of the city’s Black population, fast‑growing suburbs such as Franklin, and several rural counties, according to The Daily Wire and other local reporting. One conservative outlet described the district as one that backed former President Donald Trump by more than 20 percentage points in the last presidential election, underscoring how unusual a tight race would be in such territory.
Van Epps, a former Army helicopter pilot, is the Republican nominee. Conservative commentary has repeatedly noted that he is running as a loyal ally of Trump and has emphasized themes associated with the "America First" message, including inflation, jobs and the cost of living. In interviews and campaign material cited by right‑leaning outlets, he has argued that Republicans will focus on lowering prices, improving the economy and addressing health care costs for working families.
Behn, the Democratic nominee, is a former progressive organizer and activist who previously worked with Indivisible. She has campaigned on making health care more accessible, tackling high living costs and strengthening worker protections. According to coverage from Slate, she and her allies have framed the contest as a turnout fight in a challenging district, describing it as a mobilization effort in which each side must energize its base.
Both national parties and leading figures have treated the contest as significant. The Daily Wire reported that Republicans tied the race to the GOP’s narrow House majority and highlighted appeals from former President Trump, who, in a call to Tennessee Republicans, urged them to vote and described the special election as a "big deal" given the slim margin in Congress. The outlet also noted that Trump framed the contest as an opportunity to send a message heading into the 2026 midterms and pressed supporters to view "every seat" as critical.
On the Democratic side, national surrogates have boosted Behn through virtual and media appearances, according to Slate and NPR, though precise lineups of individual speakers vary across reports. The broader Democratic message has pointed to recent special elections where Democrats have run ahead of President Biden’s 2020 margins, citing those results as evidence of continued energy among their voters.
Behn has also faced intense scrutiny over resurfaced comments. Conservative media have circulated a 2020 podcast clip in which she said she hated aspects of Nashville’s culture, including bachelorette parties and pedal taverns, and complained about country music. In later interviews, including one highlighted by The Daily Wire, she referred to those remarks as comments made when she was a "private citizen" and said she has matured as a public official, while asking voters to extend the same grace she offers to people whose economic expectations have not been met.
Right‑leaning outlets have further drawn attention to Behn’s past posts and statements about policing. The Daily Wire, citing cable news interviews and social media clips, reported that she previously supported efforts to "defund" or significantly restructure traditional police departments and, when pressed on television about whether she wanted more money for police, declined to explicitly renounce those earlier positions. Instead, she said she would defer to community priorities such as mental health services and other alternatives, a stance Republicans have seized on as evidence she remains aligned with activist calls to shift resources away from law enforcement.
Turnout dynamics have been a central concern. The Daily Wire reported that more than 84,000 early votes were cast ahead of Election Day, with in‑person voting continuing until 7 p.m. Central time. National analysts have also noted that Democrats have outperformed expectations by double‑digit margins in many 2025 special elections compared with prior presidential results, leading strategists in both parties to watch the Tennessee contest as a possible indicator of the mood heading into 2026.
Republican Rep. Tim Burchett of Tennessee, speaking to The Daily Wire, warned that the race should serve as a wake‑up call for the GOP. He likened the contest to a warning sign for his party and urged Republicans not to take core constituencies, including evangelical Christians and gun‑rights supporters, for granted, especially in lower‑turnout off‑year elections.
Voters interviewed by The Daily Wire in and around the district cited the economy, housing affordability, border security and abortion among their top concerns. Several said they wanted to feel that their tax dollars were "going to things that matter," while others emphasized public safety and cultural issues as they weighed whether to stick with the Republican Party or consider backing a Democrat in a historically red seat.
