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The race in Tennessee was surprisingly close in a district where Trump won by 22 points in 2024
Rhian LubinWednesday 03 December 2025 10:35 GMTComments
CloseTrump dials in to Tennessee campaign to rail against 'Christian-hating' Democrat
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President Donald Trump and the GOP clung to victory in Tennessee’s special election after Republican Matt Van Epps won the nail-biting congressional race by nine points.
And while Trump hailed it a “great night for the Republican Party” on Truth Social, Republicans warned the result in Tennessee’s 7th Congressional District was “too close” after Democrats fought back —and it doesn’t bode well for the 2026 midterm elections, they said.
The race between Van Epps and the Democratic candidate Aftyn Behn was surprisingly close in a district where Trump won by 22 points in 2024.
“Tonight is a sign that 2026 is going to be a b**** of an election cycle,” one House Republican told Politico.
Republicans and Democrats poured millions into the race, which strategists noted should have been an easy win for the GOP.
Following upsets by Democrats in states in the November elections, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz said that the result in Tennessee “was dangerous.”
“We could have lost this district because the people who showed up, many of them are the ones that are motivated by how much they dislike President Trump,” Cruz told Fox News Tuesday evening.
The closeness of the race signals how hard Republicans will have to work ahead of next year’s midterms, which typically see the president’s party lose seats in Congress.
KEY POINTS
- Republican Matt Van Epps wins Tennessee special election in nail-biter race
Trump claims election was 'a great night for the Republican Party'
President Donald Trump claimed Tennessee’s election result was “a great night for the Republican Party” as he congratulated Matt Van Epps.
He said the Democrats “threw everything at him, including millions dollars.”
But the Republicans also spent big in this race.
Van Epps and his backers spent $3.5 million on ads, according to Punchbowl News, while Democrats dropped $2.4 million.
Trump’s Truth Social post congraulating Matt Van Epps (@realDonaldTrump/Truth Social)Rhian Lubin3 December 2025 10:35Tennessee nail-biter sees Republican Van Epps hold House seat as far-left Democrat rides blue tsunami to surprising finish
Republican Matt Van Epps has won a special election in a race that turned out to be surprisingly closer than expected in a sign of the Republican Party’s increasing unpopularity going into next year’s midterm elections.
Van Epps, an Army veteran, defeated Aftyn Behn, a progressive state legislator, in the race for Tennessee’s 7th Congressional seat with 53.9 percent of the vote as of Tuesday evening with 99 percent of the vote count reported.
President Donald Trump was among the first to congratulate Van Epps, firing off several posts on Truth Social Tuesday evening after around 75 percent of the votes had been counted.
Republican Van Epps holds House seat in Tennessee as Democrat rides blue tsunami
Democrat Aftyn Behn significantly exceeded expectations after she received help from the national party in a deep-red districtEric Garcia, Brendan Rascius3 December 2025 10:03More about
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