2025 Tennessee's 7th congressional district special election

The 2025 Tennessee's 7th congressional district special election was held on December 2, 2025, to fill the vacant seat in Tennessee's 7th congressional district. The deadline for entering the special election was on October 7, 2025. Republican Matt Van Epps defeated Democratic nominee Aftyn Behn in the general election, and will serve in the United States House of Representatives for the remainder of the 119th United States Congress, which will end on January 3, 2027. The seat became vacant on July 20, 2025, following the resignation of Republican Mark Green, who took a private sector job. Green resigned after voting to help pass the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

Primary elections took place on October 7, where Republican Matt Van Epps and Democrat Aftyn Behn won their respective primaries. The in-person early voting period ran from November 12 to 26.

In the December 2 general election, Van Epps defeated Behn by 8.8%. Democrats significantly improved their margins in the special election, overperforming their 2024 result by 12.6%. Although voter turnout was lower, as is common in special elections, it reached a level similar to what the district recorded during the 2022 midterms. This marked the strongest Democratic performance in the district since 1982.

Van Epps was sworn in to Congress on December 4, 2025.

The 7th congressional district is a mixed urban-rural district includes parts of Nashville that are heavily Democratic, such as downtown, two universities, Belmont and Vanderbilt, and most of the city's majority-black precincts. Surrounding counties, including Cheatham, Dickson, Robertson, and Williamson, are generally affluent and include mainly majority-white exurbs and suburbs. Franklin, in particular, is a wealthy Republican suburban stronghold. Montgomery County, anchored by Clarksville, Tennessee's fifth-largest city, is politically mixed and slightly more competitive than the district overall. Clarksville is diverse, with White, Black, and Hispanic populations spread throughout the city, and the county often serves as a bellwether for the district. The district's rural areas are overwhelmingly Republican, consisting of eight counties that are predominantly White, and this portion helps maintain the district's strongly red character.

In the 2024 presidential election, the district voted for Donald Trump by more than 22%. It also supported Mark Green in 2024 by over 21%. The district's 2025 Cook PVI was R+10.

The Republican primary was held on October 7, 2025, to fill the vacancy created by the resignation of Mark Green. The contest featured 11 candidates, including state representatives Jody Barrett, Gino Bulso, Lee Reeves and businessman Stuart Cooper. Matt Van Epps, an Army veteran and former commissioner of the Tennessee Department of General Services, ran on a platform of border security and the "America First" agenda.

On October 3, 2025, Donald Trump endorsed Van Epps, leading fellow candidates Lee Reeves and Stuart Cooper to withdraw and endorse him, though Reeves' and Cooper's name remained on the ballot. The endorsement triggered a broader consolidation of party support behind Van Epps, who won the primary with 51.6% of the vote. He carried 12 of the district's 14 counties, while Barrett won his home counties of Dickson and Hickman.

Four candidates contested the Democratic primary: state representatives Aftyn Behn, Vincent Dixie, and Bo Mitchell, and consultant Darden Copeland. Behn, a community organizer and social worker, won the nomination with a plurality of 27.9% of the vote, defeating Copeland by 933 votes. Her campaign focused on universal healthcare, rural hospital funding, and the rising cost of living. National Democratic groups monitored the race as a test of progressive messaging in a district redrawn in 2022 to include Democratic strongholds in Nashville.

The general election campaign was characterized by significant national investment. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson campaigned with Van Epps, and President Trump participated in "tele-rallies" to boost turnout. Conservative super PACs, including MAGA Inc., spent over $1.7 million on advertising targeting Behn. Behn received high-profile support from former vice president Al Gore, U.S. representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and former vice president Kamala Harris. In November, Harris visited Nashville to headline a canvassing kickoff for the Tennessee Democratic Party. While Harris did not mention Behn by name during her remarks, she urged voters to recognize the "power in the South" and emphasized the national significance of the special election.

The campaign featured aggressive attack advertisements from both sides. Republican groups ran ads highlighting Behn's past comments where she described herself as a "radical" and claimed to have "bullied" state police during protests; ads also resurfaced an old social media post where she stated she "hated" the city of Nashville and country music. Behn dismissed these as distractions from her focus on healthcare affordability. Conversely, Democratic ads criticized Van Epps for his ties to national Republican leadership and his support for the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which Behn characterized as a "transfer of wealth to the rich".

• Matt Van Epps, former commissioner of the Tennessee Department of General Services (2024–2025)

• Jody Barrett, state representative from the 69th district (2023–present)

• Gino Bulso, state representative from the 61st district (2023–present)

• Adolph Dagan, teacher

• Mason Foley, former legislative correspondent for U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell

• Jason Knight, Montgomery County commissioner and candidate for Tennessee's 22nd Senate district in 2019

• Joe Leurs, retired police officer

• Stewart Parks, realtor, participant in the January 6 Capitol attack, and candidate for the 5th district in 2022

• Tres Wittum, legislative policy analyst, candidate for Tennessee's 5th congressional district in 2022 and candidate for U.S. Senate in 2024

• Stuart Cooper, businessman (endorsed Van Epps; remained on ballot)

• Jay Reedy, state representative from the 74th district (2015–present) (endorsed Bulso)

• Jon Thorp, commercial helicopter pilot (ran as an independent)

• Lee Reeves, state representative from the 65th district (2025–present) (endorsed Van Epps; remained on ballot)

• Aron Maberry, state representative from the 68th district (2025–present) (endorsed Reeves)

• Brandon Ogles, former state representative from the 61st district (2019–2023), candidate for this district in 2024, and cousin of U.S. representative Andy Ogles

• Bill Powers, state senator from the 22nd district (2019–present)

Italics indicate a withdrawn candidate.

Matt Van Epps won twelve of the fourteen counties, while Jody Barrett won the two counties he represents in the Tennessee State House, Dickson and Hickman.

• Aftyn Behn, state representative from the 51st district (2023–present)

• Darden Copeland, consultant

• Vincent Dixie, state representative from the 54th district (2019–present)

• Bo Mitchell, state representative from the 50th district (2013–present)

• Charlane Oliver, state senator from the 19th district (2023–present)

• Megan Barry, former mayor of Nashville (2015–2018) and nominee for this district in 2024

Aftyn Behn narrowly won, carrying one county, Williamson County, by a slim margin. She performed well in the more populous Montgomery and Davidson counties, which helped secure her victory. Darden Copeland and Bo Mitchell each carried six counties, while Vincent Dixie won Davidson.

• Terri Christie, boat captain
• Bobby Dodge
• Robert James Sutherby
• Jon Thorp, commercial helicopter pilot (previously ran as a Republican)

Swing by county:   Democratic — +2.5–5%  Democratic — +5–7.5%  Democratic — +7.5–10%  Democratic — +10–12.5%  Democratic — +>15%

Despite Matt Van Epps winning the seat, political analysts and local media noted that Aftyn Behn significantly narrowed the margin in a district that Donald Trump carried by more than 22 percent and that Mark Green carried by more than 21 percent in 2024. Behn improved upon prior Democratic performances in every county within the district and recorded gains in urban, suburban, exurban, and rural areas.

Precinct flips from 2024: .mw-parser-output .col-begin{border-collapse:collapse;padding:0;color:inherit;width:100%;border:0;margin:0}.mw-parser-output .col-begin-small{font-size:90%}.mw-parser-output .col-break{vertical-align:top;text-align:left}.mw-parser-output .col-break-2{width:50%}.mw-parser-output .col-break-3{width:33.3%}.mw-parser-output .col-break-4{width:25%}.mw-parser-output .col-break-5{width:20%}@media(max-width:720px){.mw-parser-output .col-begin,.mw-parser-output .col-begin>tbody,.mw-parser-output .col-begin>tbody>tr,.mw-parser-output .col-begin>tbody>tr>td{display:block!important;width:100%!important}.mw-parser-output .col-break{padding-left:0!important}} Democratic   Hold   Gain from Republican Republican   Hold

Aftyn Behn's strongest gains were concentrated in the Davidson County portion of the district, anchored by Nashville, where Democratic margins shifted nearly 20 percent compared to former Nashville mayor Megan Barry's 2024 performance. She carried most urban Nashville precincts by large margins.

In Montgomery County, Behn performed the best in Clarksville, where she flipped several precincts mainly in the northeastern part of the city and performed well in downtown and other traditionally Democratic parts of the city. This was her only other county besides Davidson in which she gained more than double digits and marked her second-best performance in the district. While Behn did well in Clarksville, she lost Montgomery County by 8 percent, as Van Epps held enough ground in the southern and eastern parts of the county to win it.

In Williamson County, Behn made notable gains in portions of Franklin, flipping some precincts in the city. While she was unable to reduce the Republican margin in the county to below 60 percent, she still gained ground by shifting the county nearly 10 percent. Despite this shift, analysts at Sabato's Crystal Ball noted that her performance in this populous subsection of the district was relatively "stagnant" compared to the larger swings seen elsewhere. Her margin in the county was similar to the results recorded during the 2020 election. However, she trailed the 2018 performance of Phil Bredesen, who narrowly lost the 7th District under these lines during his senate campaign.

Republican advantages in mainly suburban, exurban, and rural areas across the district ultimately secured the victory for Van Epps.

• 2025 United States elections
• List of special elections to the United States House of Representatives
• List of United States representatives from Tennessee
• Political party strength in Tennessee
• 119th United States Congress

Partisan clients

Official campaign websites

• Aftyn Behn (D) for Congress
• Terri Christie (I) for Congress
• Jon Thorp (I) for Congress
• Matt Van Epps (R) for Congress