Donald Trump Reacts to Tennessee Special Election Results

By Gabe Whisnant

Breaking News Editor

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President Donald Trump has reacted after Tennessee Republican Matt Van Epps defeated state Rep. Aftyn Behn, the Democrat, in the reliably conservative 7th U.S. House Congressional District.

The president posted on Truth Social, "Congratulations to Matt Van Epps on his BIG Congressional WIN in the Great State of Tennessee. The Radical Left Democrats threw everything at him, including Millions of Dollars. Another great night for the Republican Party!!! President DJT"

Why It Matters

The 7th District is one of three seats redrawn in 2022 to dilute the political influence of Nashville, the state’s largest and heavily Democratic city. Only about one-fifth of the district’s registered voters live in Nashville, and last year it backed former Rep. Mark Green, who resigned this summer, by 21 percentage points and supported Trump by a similar margin in 2024.

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What To Know

With 93 percent of the vote counted, Van Epps, a military veteran and former state general services commissioner from Nashville, held a 53.2 percent to 45.7 percent lead, with the candidates separated by just over 12,000 votes. CNN called the race at 9:30 p.m. ET.

Van Epps was boosted by more than $1 million from MAGA Inc., marking the first time the Trump-aligned super PAC has spent on a campaign since last year’s presidential race — a sign of the contest’s heightened importance. House Speaker Mike Johnson and GOP Chair Joe Gruters campaigned for him in Tennessee on Monday. Trump addressed supporters by phone and later held a tele-rally for Van Epps, his second of the general election.

The House Majority PAC invested $1 million to support the progressive Behn, and national party chair Ken Martin traveled to the district to campaign for her. Former Vice President Kamala Harris helped launch a canvassing effort while in Nashville on a book tour, and former Vice President Al Gore — a Tennessee native — joined Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in headlining a virtual rally on the eve of the election.

Republicans entered Election Day hoping to undercut Democratic arguments that even reliably red districts are becoming competitive as President Donald Trump faces low approval ratings and lingering voter frustration over the economy.

Democrats, buoyed by recent wide-margin wins in New Jersey, Virginia and other states, saw a strong performance in Tennessee as a chance to further energize the party ahead of next November’s midterm elections.

The stand-alone special election unfolded on an unusual calendar, with early voting ending the day before Thanksgiving and Election Day held the following Tuesday.

Van Epps sought to tie himself closely to Trump, telling him during a November tele-rally, “I will have your back 100%.” He won the GOP primary handily in October after securing a late endorsement from the president.

Behn centered her campaign on sharp attacks against economic policies she argued favor wealthy interests and corporations, including Trump’s tariffs and his budget and spending law — measures Van Epps supports. But Republicans hammered Behn over her own past comments in a series of ads, highlighting remarks in which she called herself a “radical” and criticized Nashville and its tourism industry.

Updates: 12/2/25, 9:51 p.m. ET: This article was updated with new information and remarks.

This article includes reporting by the Associated Press.

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