Tennessee voters head to the polls in a special House election to test Trump’s strength

Live results: Special election for Tennessee’s 7th Congressional District

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — President Donald Trump and Republicans will try to recover from recent losses across the country when Tennessee voters choose the next representative for the U.S. House’s conservative 7th Congressional District on Tuesday.

The special election, set up after Republican Rep. Mark Green resigned this summer, has seen an unexpected surge in spending in recent weeks, flooding the airwaves and filling residents’ mailboxes with campaign flyers.

Read more: 3 reasons to watch Tennessee’s special election

Matt Van Epps, the Republican candidate, received more than $1 million from MAGA Inc. This is the first time that a major political action committee supporting Trump has spent money on a campaign since last year’s presidential race, which reflects the great importance of this contest. House Speaker Mike Johnson and GOP Chairman Joe Gruters rallied supporters in Tennessee on Monday. Trump addressed the crowd by phone and later held a rally by phone for Van Epps, his second of the general election.

Democrats recently won by large margins in New Jersey, Virginia and elsewhere, and a strong performance in Tennessee could embolden the party ahead of the midterm elections next November.

The House Majority Political Action Committee has put $1 million behind state Rep. Aftin Behn, the Democratic nominee. National Party Chairman Ken Martin visited to campaign for Behn. Former Vice President Kamala Harris participated in a canvassing campaign kickoff while in Nashville on a book tour. Former Vice President Al Gore, a Tennessee native, and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez chaired a virtual rally on election eve.

Read more: This poll number has not favored Democrats since before the recent blue wave

The 7th District is one of three seats redrawn in 2022 to undermine the influence of Nashville, the state’s largest city and a Democratic stronghold. Only about 1 in 5 of its registered voters are in Nashville, and last year it went for Green by 21 percentage points and for Trump by a similar margin.

Democrats say closing the gap would signal their party has momentum in the coming year. Republicans remain confident they can defend the seat, and hope to rebut Democratic claims that even red districts are now red as Trump struggles with low approval ratings and persistent economic discontent.

However, there are concerns about turnout due to the timing, with early voting falling into Thanksgiving week and Election Day the following Tuesday.

Read more: Trump is trying to rally Republican votes for Tennessee’s special election

Trump held a virtual rally in November with Van Epps, a former state Public Services Commissioner from Nashville who previously served as an Army helicopter pilot, to boost his candidacy.

Republicans have tried to turn Behn’s words against her in television ads, such as when she described herself as an “extremist” or claimed she “bullies” immigration agents and state police officers. Among the frequent targets are comments Behn made about Nashville years ago, when she said “I hate this city” and complained about bachelorette parties.

For the most part, Behn answered questions about those observations by redirecting to cost-of-living issues. But she responded specifically about Nashville, saying she wants it “to be a place where working people can thrive” even if she feels uncomfortable with some of its tourist attractions.

Behn, a self-proclaimed “angry social worker,” has condemned Trump’s tariffs and tax-cut legislation, both of which Van Epps supports. She also criticized Republicans’ reluctance to release files related to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Van Epps originally opposed the House vote to force the Justice Department to release more Epstein documents but changed his position to mirror Trump after the president supported the measure.

Democratic allies sought to erode Van Epps’ base by urging conservatives to support independent candidate John Thorpe instead. The messages came in mailers from Your Community PAC, which has spent more than $16 million supporting Democratic candidates across the country since last year.