Republican Matt Van Epps defeats ‘AOC of Tennessee’ in close congressional special election

Republican Matt Van Epps narrowly defeated Democrat Aftyn Behn in Tuesday’s hotly contested special election for Tennessee’s 7th District House seat. 

Behn had raised Democrats’ hopes for an upset in the conservative stronghold after late polling showed the state lawmaker within striking distance of Van Epps, a former Army helicopter pilot backed by President Trump. 

Van Epps led by about 6 percentage points with 85% of ballots counted Tuesday night, when the Associated Press called the race for the Republican at 9:37 p.m. 

“Congratulations to Matt Van Epps on his BIG Congressional WIN in the Great State of Tennessee,” Trump posted on Truth Social. “The Radical Left Democrats threw everything at him, including Millions of Dollars.

“Another great night for the Republican Party!!! President DJT”

The race for the vacant House seat previously held by former Rep. Mark Green, who retired earlier this year, became even more critical for Republicans to hold onto in the wake of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s (R-Ga.) decision to leave Congress come January. 

On Monday, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), stumped for Van Epps on the ground in the middle Tennessee district and Trump held two tele-rallies urging voters to head out to the polls. 

“This is a big deal, because right now we’re like, three votes up on the radical left, and this would be a wonderful victory for us,” Trump said on one of the get-out-the-vote calls. “It’ll be really a positive sign.” 

The president, who beat former Vice President Kamala Harris in the 7th District by a 22 point margin, argued that the special election results must show “that the Republican Party is stronger.”

Meanwhile, Johnson acknowledged “every seat matters more than ever” in the lower chamber. 

“It is no secret my majority in Congress is razor-thin,” the House speaker told voters during one of the tele-rallies with Trump.  

With Greene’s upcoming retirement and special elections to fill the two vacant House seats previously held by Democrats, Johnson faced the possibility of passing legislation with a zero-vote margin by next spring, had Van Epps lost. 

A surprising Emerson College Polling survey recently showed Van Epps topping Behn by only 2 percentage points (48%-46%).

“Republicans are struggling to hold a House seat in Tennessee that Trump just won by 22 points,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) argued on Monday. “America is clearly disgusted with these GOP extremists. And are prepared to throw them all out of office.” 

Behn was branded by Trump as the “AOC of Tennessee” – a reference to “squad” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), who campaigned for the Democratic congressional candidate – and was hit hard by the president over her past remarks about country music and Christianity. 

“The Democrats are spending a fortune, and we don’t want people that want to raise your taxes,” Trump said Monday. “But [Behn] said two things above all else that bothered me. Number one, she hates Christianity. Number two, she hates country music.

“How the hell can you elect a person like that?”

On the eve of the special election, Van Epps vowed that with Trump’s support he would “win this race and keep this seat red.” 

On the campaign trail, the West Point graduate touted his nine military combat tours and pledged to work with Trump to bring down the cost of living, lower health care costs create more good paying jobs. 

“We will deport every single criminal illegal, keep men out of women’s sports … stand with our veterans and we’ll make sure every hard working Tennessean can thrive,” Van Epps promised voters.