Republican Matt Van Epps on Tuesday won his party’s nomination in the special election to succeed former Tennessee Rep. Mark E. Green, just days after securing President Donald Trump’s endorsement in the race.
With 91 percent of votes in, Van Epps, who until June was the commissioner of the Tennessee Department of General Services, led an 11-way primary field with more than 51 percent, according to The Associated Press. His nearest opponents in the race for the 7th District, state Reps. Jody Barrett and Gino Bulso, trailed with 25 percent and 11 percent, respectively.
On the Democratic side, state Rep. Aftyn Behn bested three opponents Tuesday for the party nod. With more than 95 percent of votes in, Behn had 28 percent, just ahead of businessman Darden Copelan (25 percent), and state Reps. Bo Mitchell (24 percent) and Vincent Dixie (23 percent).
Van Epps and Behn next advance to the Dec. 2 general election, where they will be joined on the ballot by four independent candidates.
Van Epps starts off as the general election favorite in the Middle Tennessee district, which includes parts of Nashville and extends between the state’s northern and southern borders. Trump carried the seat by 22 points last year, according to calculations by The Downballot, while Green was reelected by a similar margin.
“As a proud West Point graduate, an Army combat helicopter pilot, and former Commissioner of the Tennessee Department of General Services, Matt knows firsthand what it means to serve his community, his state, and his country,” Reilly Richardson, a spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Committee, said in a statement congratulating the GOP primary winner.
Trump’s decision to make a late endorsement shook up the contest that till then had largely centered around Van Epps, Barrett, Bulso and state Rep. Lee Reeves. On Monday, the president held a tele-rally for Van Epps, along with the Club for Growth PAC, to gin up support for his chosen candidate.
The endorsement, which came after early voting had ended, also prompted Reeves and businessman Stuart Cooper to suspend their campaigns, though their names remained on the ballot. Both urged supporters who hadn’t yet voted to back Van Epps. Tuesday’s results showed Lee in fourth place with around 5 percent of the vote, while Cooper was further behind with less than 1 percent.
Van Epps had already consolidated significant support for his campaign before Trump’s endorsement. Green, who resigned from the House this summer for an unspecified business opportunity, and House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan of Ohio had both endorsed him, with Jordan’s PAC running ads on his behalf. Last week, Republican Gov. Bill Lee threw his support behind Van Epps, a former member of his cabinet.
Van Epps also benefited from significant outside spending. The School Freedom Fund, an affiliate of the Club for Growth, spent heavily to oppose Barrett, who voted against a school voucher program measure in the state legislature earlier this year. The group also made several investments to boost Van Epps, including for digital advertising and text messaging, bringing their total investment in the race to more than $850,000 as of Monday.
Conservatives for American Excellence Inc. spent $606,000 supporting Van Epps and opposing Barrett.
While the 7th District leans Republican, Democrats are hoping to build on a string of party overperformances in special elections around the country this year. Since Trump took office, Democrats have improved on their 2024 results by double digits in special elections in Iowa, Florida and Pennsylvania, offering them hope that the Tennessee contest could provide an opportunity for an upset.
“Tennessee just sent a message: women still fight, organizers still win, and Democrats in the Deep South are far from done,” Behn said in a statement after her win.
During the campaign, the state legislator leaned on her experience as an organizer, including with the progressive group Indivisible.
“I have a base of people who I have been organizing with in the trenches as Tennessee has evolved, and they feel like I’m the best fighter,” she said in an interview with CQ Roll Call before the election.
Tennessee’s 7th District is one of three current vacancies in the House. Texas’ 18th District has been vacant since the March death of Democrat Sylvester Turner, with a special election scheduled for Nov. 4. Democrat Adelita Grijalva was elected in September to fill the third vacant seat, succeeding her father, the late Democratic Rep. Raúl M. Grijalva in Arizona’s 7th District, but she has not been sworn-in.
“The delay in swearing me in is robbing the people of Southern Arizona of essential constituent services. I am unable to hire staff, open district offices, or respond to constituent concerns,” Grijalva wrote in a Monday letter to Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La.
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