Posted on Friday, November 28, 2025
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by Shane Harris
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As Americans were making their final Thanksgiving preparations on Wednesday, a new poll showed a shockingly close race in the special election for Tennessee’s 7th Congressional District on December 2. If Democrats can win in this deep red district – or even come close – it should be setting off major alarm bells for the Republican Party heading into the midterm year.
When former Rep. Mark Green resigned from Congress on July 20, conventional wisdom held that the Republican nominee, West Point graduate and helicopter pilot Matt Van Epps, would easily carry the seat, which is rated as R+10 by the Cook Partisan Voting Index. Green easily won the seat with nearly 60 percent of the vote in 2024.
But the survey from Emerson College and The Hill shows Democrat nominee Aftyn Behn within the margin of error against Van Epps, trailing 46 percent to 48 percent. Behn, whose only real work experience appears to be as a left-wing activist, won election to the Tennessee House of Representatives in 2023. Her left-wing policy stances and progressive diatribes have earned her the nickname “the AOC of Tennessee.”
“Though the district is seen as a red stronghold, Democrats have been pouring money into the race and sending several high-profile surrogates there in hopes of an impressive overperformance following a string of resounding victories elsewhere,” The Hill reports. “The economy was rated the most important issue among respondents at 38 percent, according to the poll, while 15 percent said housing affordability and health care and threats to democracy received 13 percent each.”
The result is all the more shocking given that, on paper, Behn is a terrible candidate who has made several outrageous comments about Tennessee and the people she hopes to represent in Congress.
On a 2020 podcast that resurfaced last week, for instance, Behn said of Nashville, “I hate the city, I hate the bachelorettes, I hate the pedal taverns, I hate country music, I hate all of the things that make Nashville apparently an ‘it’ city to the rest of the country. But I hate it.” The 7th District, which stretches from the Kentucky border southward, includes parts of Nashville.
In a 2019 op-ed for The Tennessean, Behn also wrote that “Tennessee is a racist state, and so is its legislature.” She added that the state is “wild and untamed” and claimed that “racism is in the air we breathe, permeating the State Capitol, codified in the legislation being passed at the detriment of women, communities of color, and the working poor.”
Unsurprisingly, during the summer 2020 riots, Behn loudly championed the “Defund the Police” movement, specifically calling to “dissolve” the Nashville Police Department. Even more alarmingly, she heaped praise on people who “believe burning down a police station is justified.”
Anti-law enforcement hysteria continued to be a theme of Behn’s political career in the state legislature. In May of this year, before announcing her candidacy, Behn went viral for a video showing her following and harassing local police and Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents for doing their jobs.
Behn is also on tape condemning women who get married and start families, calling the idea of motherhood the product of a “deeply patriarchal structure.” The 36-year-old Behn, who is childless and unmarried, stated that her therapist “always asks me to transcribe my dreams and the recurring dream I’ve had is standing up in a cafeteria full of women and saying ‘I don’t want children. I want power!’”
Nonetheless, national Democrats clearly smell blood in the water and have been pouring millions of dollars into the race, along with trotting out high-profile national leaders to campaign for Behn. Former Vice President Kamala Harris made an appearance in the district earlier this month. Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin has also hit the campaign trail with Behn.
Clearly taking a cue from the November 4 elections in Virginia and New Jersey, Behn has made her campaign entirely about “affordability,” doing her best to avoid discussion of her long track record of radical left policies and statements. The federal government “has not delivered on their promise of affordability,” Behn said at a recent rally. “And Tennessee is at the epicenter of the affordability crisis.”
If Behn manages to pull off one of the most improbable upsets in decades, it would be a five-alarm fire for Republicans heading into the midterms. The results in New York, Virginia, and New Jersey can in large part be explained by historical trends and the general political makeup of the state. But if a Democrat wins in a district that Republicans won by more than 20 points just one year ago, there is no other explanation than the GOP is in serious trouble.
This would be all the more concerning given that Van Epps is, by all accounts, a solid candidate. He is a veteran who previously served as commissioner of the Tennessee Department of General Services. President Donald Trump has endorsed him, and he has had no major scandals to date.
If Van Epps does pull out a victory, Republicans can breathe a major sigh of relief – but that does not absolve the party from some serious reflection if the result is close. With a razor-slim margin, House Republicans have little room for error if they hope to retain the gavel next November.
Regardless, the closeness of the race has already been a wake-up call. The GOP should heed it.
Shane Harris is the Editor in Chief of AMAC Newsline. You can follow him on X @shaneharris513.
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