GOP, Democrats pour millions into Tennessee House special election

With a week until Election Day in the hotly contested race for a vacant GOP-controlled House seat in Tennessee’s deep-red congressional district, both Republicans and Democrats are pouring resources into the race.

Pro-Republican groups are spending millions of dollars to run ads in the Dec. 2 special election in Tennessee’s 7th Congressional District; thus eliminating the possibility of a major upset and preserving the GOP’s extremely slim 219-213 majority in the House.

President Donald Trump led the district in central and western Tennessee, which stretches from Kentucky to Alabama and includes parts of Nashville, by 22 points in last year’s presidential election.

But Democrats, energized after the party’s big victories in high-profile polls from coast to coast earlier this month, are also spending big money in the race.

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“The stakes are extremely high, especially in light of the results from the 2025 election,” Vanderbilt University Political Science Professor John Greer told Fox News Digital. “Republicans are worried that this normally safe district could actually fall into Democratic hands.”

Republican candidate Matt Van Epps faces Democratic candidate Aftyn Behn in the race to replace former GOP Rep. Mark Green, who resigned from office in June to take a job in the private sector.

Democrats have been focused on pushing the issue of affordability in this fall’s elections, and Behn, a state representative, former health care community organizer and rising progressive star some have called “Tennessee’s AOC,” fits that script.

“Are you angry about high grocery prices? Worried about healthcare costs? Frustrated by tariffs? Then December 2nd is your day to shake up Washington,” he says in the latest ad of his campaign.

Behn sees a path to victory by casting himself as the candidate to control Trump’s party in Congress.

While Democrats privately acknowledged that the path to victory was narrow, Democratic National Committee Chairman Ken Martin, who campaigned with Behn earlier this month, argued that he had “an excellent chance to win.”

Republican congressional candidate Matt Van Epps votes at an early voting site in the seventh district special election on Wednesday, Nov. 12, 2025, in Nashville, Tenn. (George Walker IV/AP Photo)

Van Epps, a former military combatant and former commissioner of the Trump-backed Tennessee Department of General Services, is flaunting his military career as part of his cost-of-living focus.

“Matt Van Epps. Nine combat tours. True American hero,” says the narrator in one of his ads, before Van Epps adds, “I’m now on a new mission: lower prices, create good-paying jobs, and lower healthcare costs for working families.”

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While both candidates run ads, aligned super PACs and other outside groups flood the airwaves and digital space.

Pro-Trump super PAC MAGA Inc. and the fiscally conservative Growth Club each gave seven figures to advertise in the race.

“It’s going to be a tough race. They all are, but that one [Van Epps] “I’m going to win this race because it’s more aligned with Tennessee,” Club for Growth President David McIntosh told Fox News Digital. “I trust him and we will help him do this.”

Matt Van Epps, Republican candidate for Tennessee’s 7th Congressional District, speaks to attendees before a debate with other candidates at the CabaRay Showroom in Nashville, Tenn., Friday, Sept. 5, 2025. (Nicole Hester / The Tennessean / USA TODAY NETWORK, via Imagn Images)

Also playing in the race is Conservatives for American Excellence, which is funded by GOP megadonors.

Outside groups close to Democrats support Behn, even though he doesn’t spend as much. And last week, the House Majority PAC, the top group supporting House Democratic candidates, announced it would pour $1 million into the Tennessee showdown.

Last week, Republicans were under fire for Behn’s past comments on the 2020 podcast.

“I hate the city, I hate singles, I hate pedal taverns, I hate country music, I hate everything that ostensibly makes Nashville the ‘it’ city for the rest of the country. But I hate it,” he said on the podcast.

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The region is entirely red but includes parts of the region. Democratic bastion of Nashville, The capital and most populous city of Tennessee and a major national center for the country music industry. The district covers parts of north and west Nashville, including downtown, which has long been a very popular tourist destination.

“The Democrat running in the special election for Tennessee’s 7th Congressional District Aftyn Behn is running with this message: ‘I hate it here, elect me!’ Tennessee deserves better,” the Republican National Committee argued in a social media post last week.

Democratic congressional candidate State Rep. Aftyn Behn, D-Nashville, attends a campaign event during the seventh district special election Thursday, Nov. 13, 2025, in Nashville, Tenn. (George Walker IV/AP Photo)

Republicans are also targeting Behn for an op-ed in the 2019 edition of The Tennessean newspaper titled “Tennessee is a racist state and so is its legislature.”

Pointing to the six-year-old opinion piece in a social media post on Wednesday, the RNC asked, “If Behn hates Tennessee so much, why is she trying to represent it?” he asked.

Anti-police comments Behn made on a now-deleted social media account have also resurfaced in recent days.

Behn campaign manager Kate Briefs said in a statement Monday: “The attacks from Washington Republicans are getting louder because their agenda is deeply unpopular and early voting results show this race is a firestorm. They can’t talk about fixing health care, cutting costs, or protecting our hospitals because they don’t have a plan. Instead, they’re slinging mud.”

Behn’s campaign points to what it says is an “increase in the number of first-time and infrequent voters” heading out to vote early.

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But Greer, co-director of the Vanderbilt Poll, predicted that special elections in a non-election year are “probably going to be pretty low and an indication that early voting is definitely going to be pretty low.”

“I think the Democrats are still on an uphill climb,” Greer said. “But the fact that Republicans and Democrats are pouring money into the race, both parties see some evidence that the race could be close.”