State Rep. Aftyn Behn, a Democrat, outraised her Republican foe Matt Van Epps almost two to one in recent weeks as the two head toward a Dec. 2 special election for Tennessee’s open 7th Congressional District seat.
According to pre-election reports released Nov. 20, Behn reported more than $1 million raised since her Oct. 7 primary win. Van Epps, the former commissioner of the Tennessee Department of General Services under Gov. Bill Lee, reported $590,000 over the same period. National attention has amplified the stakes in district, which is bound by the Alabama and Kentucky state borders and includes a slice of Davidson County, putting Democrats squarely on offense as Trump battles controversies within his own party.
Nashville briefly gets the battleground spotlight as GOP money machine safeguards against an upset in Tennessee's 7th
Behn capitalized on momentum following national Democratic wins in early November, while outside GOP spenders boosted Van Epps, aiming to avoid the embarrassment of a close race in the district — a district Republican U.S. Rep. Mark Green won comfortably a year ago. Trump appeared virtually this month during a Van Epps campaign call, while Behn has done a national press tour. Optimistic pieces in the American Prospect and Mother Jones frame Behn’s race as an upset-in-the-making. A recent poll from Impact Research, a firm aligned with Democrats, shows Behn down 8 percentage points to Van Epps and highlights the GOP’s potential cuts to Medicaid and Social Security as particularly unpopular.
Opponents, including Fox News, have focused on Behn’s history of progressive activism to tie her to past support for defunding the police and blanket critiques of Nashville. Van Epps has largely stayed out of the spotlight and avoided unfriendly media appearances, which might open him up to be publicly challenged on his Trump-conforming platform.
Recent supplementary disclosures also show a haul from PACs and special interests for Van Epps as he tries to make up a last-minute cash gap. A special disclosure filed Nov. 23 shows an additional $38,000 from donors like corporate tobacco company Reynolds American, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) and additional groups within the Trump fundraising universe. The abrupt resignation of former Trump ally U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, who criticized Trump and the party at large in her departing announcement, and more revelations about Trump's affiliation with disgraced late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein have put the controlling party on defense in recent weeks.
District residents should expect a flood of candidate advertising ahead of Dec. 2. Early voting in Davidson County — which concludes Wednesday, Nov. 26 — continues at about triple the pace of the primary race, and both candidates have a collective $750,000 to spend.
