State Rep. Aftyn Behn won the Democratic Party’s nomination for the 7th Congressional District on Tuesday, beating out a crowded field on a compressed election timeline. Behn’s high name recognition and progressive platform helped bring out voters in an otherwise low-turnout, off-cycle primary. Republican Rep. Mark Green, who abruptly resigned from Congress over the summer, won the seat by 21 percentage points in November, suggesting long odds for Behn as she faces Republican Matt Van Epps in the Dec. 2 general election.Â
Democratic state House rep joins Mitchell, Reeves and others in race to succeed retiring Mark Green
Though Behn lives just outside the district, she has a long history as a progressive organizer, particularly around rural health care — a central issue in the sprawling 14-county district. Behn’s proud progressive stances and insistence on younger Democratic standard-bearers separated her from fellow Nashville state Reps. Bo Mitchell and Vincent Dixie, as well as well-funded political strategist Darden Copeland. Behn’s campaign quickly earned national media attention as a potential Democratic upset.
A few days after FEC reports showed Copeland’s significant cash advantage, Behn penned a Substack post calling his campaign a “mirage” passing off personal wealth as grassroots support. Dixie and Mitchell both have long electoral histories in the 7th Congressional District, where they each return to solid support in their respective state House districts.
Aftyn Behn at her election night watch party, Oct. 7, 2025
"Tonight’s victory doesn’t belong to me," Behn told supporters Tuesday night at the Gray Fox Bar & Lounge in Clarksville. "It belongs to every grassroots candidate who came before — to the organizers, the activists, and the everyday Tennesseans who have spent years fighting to make this a place where we feed kids, fix roads, and fund hospitals instead of handing out corporate tax breaks. This campaign proved what the pundits said was impossible: that grassroots organizing can compete with corporate money, that a woman from the movement can take on the machine, and that Tennessee is ready for a new kind of Democrat — one who doesn’t wait for permission to fight for what’s right."
Former Rep. Mark Green’s pick will face off against the Democratic primary winner in December
State Republicans redrew the district in 2022 as one of three that includes a portion of Davidson County’s heavily Democratic vote. All Democratic candidates zeroed in on rural health care and anti-Trump sentiment as key campaign issues. Matt Van Epps, a combat veteran and Green’s handpicked successor, led Republicans in fundraising and earned a last-minute endorsement from Trump, prompting state Rep. Lee Reeves (R-Franklin) to drop out days before the primary.
Republicans’ narrow majority in the House of Representatives lends national political significance to Tennessee’s special election. Democrats have recently overperformed projections in off-cycle elections, typically plagued by low voter turnout.
"In 60 days, we have a chance to flip a congressional seat and tighten the balance of power in Washington," said Behn on Tuesday night, "at a moment when everything feels like it’s on fire."
Additional reporting by Ray di Pietro.
