Narrow Victory Stuns GOP As Van Epps Secures Tennessee Seat
In a political contest that has many eyes watching as a barometer of the voting public, Republican Matt Van Epps defeated Democrat Aftyn Behn in a Tennessee election on Tuesday.
While the win goes into the Republican column, the final tally was far tighter than what many suggested it should be. This was supposed to be a blowout in Tennessee’s 7th Congressional District, a stronghold designed to be safe territory for the GOP. Instead,
The scoreboard narrows in District 7
The final vote shows Van Epps, a military veteran and former state general services commissioner, taking the seat. However, the margin of victory tells the real story of this Tennessee election.
With nearly all votes counted, Van Epps held a lead of roughly 9 percentage points. To put that in perspective, the previous Republican incumbent took this seat by 21 points just last year. Former President Donald Trump carried the exact same district by a massive 22-point margin in 2024.
For the GOP, a win is a win, but the single-digit buffer has to be concerning.
Said Van Epps: “Politicians who run from the president or abandon the common-sense policies that the American people gave us a resounding mandate on do so at their own peril. No matter what the D.C. insiders or liberal media say, this is President Trump’s party. I’m proud to be a part of it and can’t wait to get to work.”
Behn’s offensive playbook
Democrat Aftyn Behn ran an unapologetic progressive campaign that nearly flipped the script. She focused on “bread and butter” issues with a catchy, pragmatic slogan: “Feed kids, fix roads, and fund hospitals.”
She faced a barrage of attack ads branding her as a “radical,” but she managed to run up a huge margin in Davidson County. Despite the loss, Behn sees this Democratic party performance as a shifting tide.
“This was a district that Trump won handily, and he and his billionaire friends had to spend millions of dollars to bolster their candidate of choice,” Behn said. “It portends what will happen next year when you have Republicans that are in more competitive seats, struggling with candidates that look a lot like me and for me that’s a really exciting moment.”
Implications for the 2026 season
The results of this Tennessee election are already being analyzed by scouts on both sides of the aisle. Democrats are claiming momentum, believing that cutting a 22-point deficit down to single digits in deep red territory proves they are ready to play offense.
Van Epps will now head to Washington to finish out the term of retired Rep. Mark Green, but he won’t have long to rest. He will have to suit up and run for reelection again in the 2026 midterms, where he may very well face a rematch.
