State Rep. Aftyn Behn (D-Nashville) has announced that she will not repeat a run for congressional office, instead focusing on her current position representing House District 51 in the Tennessee General Assembly.
Behn announced in July that she would run for Tennessee’s 7th Congressional District, a seat left open by the retirement of incumbent Republican U.S. Rep. Mark Green. Republican Matt Van Epps won the seat in December's special election with the help of millions in outside spending from national conservative committees.
The Scene last week reported based on a year-end Federal Election Commission report that, of the $3.3 million in campaign funds raised, Behn has $465,000 left in her account. Behn says Monday that there is less than $200,000 left, telling the Scene that the FEC's end-of-year account does not account for payroll spending or outstanding invoices.
"The accurate end-of-year report gets filed at the end of January," she says.
Scrutiny and analysis abound after Aftyn Behn brings Democrats within striking distance of a redrawn congressional seat
The remaining cash will help fund a Davidson County organizer for the 2026 election cycle and stand up Unrigged, an organizing project that Behn says will support another run for national office in the coming years. She also says in an Instagram post that she hopes to "build the coalition we need" to flip seats from red to blue in Tennessee.
Behn's announcement comes as the Tennessee General Assembly is set to gavel in on Tuesday.
In a press release, Behn also says the congressional race took a toll on her mental health, citing a “daily deluge of violent rape and death threats,” including threats to her family.
“Running in the 7th Congressional District special election was the honor of a lifetime,” she says. “I was deeply grateful for the opportunity to represent Tennessee on a national stage and to run a campaign highlighting how our country and its systems have been sold to the highest bidder. More importantly, I’m proud of our deep voter content program and how many Tennesseans showed up to canvass for the first time, which is always a barometer of a successful campaign.”
