Candidates for Tennessee’s 7th Congressional District are hitting the campaign trail ahead of the recently announced Oct. 7 primary and Dec. 2 general election to fill the seat left empty by former U.S. Rep. Mark Green, a Republican. The district includes a portion of Davidson County as well as rural areas west of Nashville, stretching from Clarksville to the state’s border with Alabama. It was one of three congressional seats redrawn by Tennessee’s Republican supermajority following the 2020 Census. Last year, Green defeated Democrat and former Nashville Mayor Megan Barry by roughly 70,000 votes to keep his seat.
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On July 24, Democrats gathered at Nashville’s UAW Local 737 Union Hall for a “Take Back TN 07” rally, which drew around 100 people. Nashville’s state Reps. Aftyn Behn, Bo Mitchell and Vincent Dixie — all of whom are running for the Democratic Party’s nomination in the 7th — attended the event, along with political strategist and fellow candidate Darden Copeland. All four also pitched their platforms at the Democratic Party’s July 12 Three Star Dinner at the Music City Center.
“We’re here tonight because we’ve got something that seems kind of rare in politics these days, right?” Tennessee Democratic Party Chair Rachel Campbell told the crowd at the July 24 event. “An opportunity, an open seat, a tight congressional margin and a fired-up Democratic base that knows that this moment belongs to us.
“We’re going to build the kind of campaign that can win and can inspire, because this is not just about flipping that seat,” she continued. “This is about flipping that script. This is about reclaiming our power for too long. Folks in Tennessee and in District 7 have been sold a line of bullshit that rural Tennessee can’t care about clean air or good schools, that you can’t be pro-labor and pro-growth, that if you if your kid wants to go to college and be debt-free and your hospital stay open, then you’re just asking for too much. But I reject that. I know that you all reject that, because we’re Democrats.”
Democrats focused many of their remarks on economics and connecting with the working class, with an emphasis on the cost of food, housing and health care, and the support of marginalized communities.
At the event, Behn, who currently represents state House District 51, addressed criticism over the fact that she does not currently live in the 7th Congressional District. “In the most MAGA-gerrymandered congressional district in the country, I live walking distance from the line,” Behn told the Scene. “I’ve got 12,000 constituents in CD7 who asked me to run in this race, and I’ve no problem moving if I do win, so I don’t look at it as a concern at all. I think this moment requires people like me who offer fearless leadership and meet the moment.”
Republican 7th Congressional District forum, July 26
“Not many people are talking about this race, but come December, this is going to be the center of the political universe — right here west of Nashville,” Tennessee GOP Chair Scott Golden told a crowd of roughly 100 Republican voters at a forum hosted by the Humphreys County Republicans on July 26.
“We’re going to have a great nominee,” he said. “We’re going to get this done. This is going to be the most important race of 2025 — all due respect to New Jersey and Virginia. The action is going to be right here, and it’s starting tonight in Waverly, Tennessee.”
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That forum was attended by several candidates: state Rep. Jody Barrett (R-Dickson); former state Commissioner Matt Van Epps, who was recently endorsed by Green; Montgomery County Commissioner Jason Knight; veteran John Wilt; and now-pardoned Jan. 6 insurrectionist Stewart Parks. Also in attendance was state Rep. Gino Bulso (R-Brentwood), who has entered the race after weeks of speculation. A handful of other declared candidates — state Rep. Lee Reeves (R-Franklin), veteran Jon Thorp, businessman Stuart Cooper and newcomer Mason Foley — were not present.
Republicans focused on their support of and advancement of President Donald Trump’s “America First” agenda — especially in regard to immigration enforcement, limiting government assistance for immigrants, and proposals like bans on stock trading by elected officials, term limits and the use of auto pens.
Van Epps earned the top spot in a straw poll by voters in attendance, with Bulso coming in second and Parks third.
