Matt Van Epps, Republican candidate for Tennessee Congressional District 7, greets U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson at a rally for Van Epps in Franklin on Dec. 1. (Photo: John Partipilo/Tennessee Lookout)
With one day to go until the Middle Tennessee U.S. Congressional special election, U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson headlined a rally in Franklin for Republican Matt Van Epps, while Democrat Aftyn Behn campaigned in Clarksville.
The two candidates are locked into a tight race, vying to replace former Republican U.S. Rep. Mark Green, who resigned from the seat in July.
Johnson and other speakers — including President Donald Trump, who Johnson called mid-rally — not only promoted Van Epps but also heavily criticized Behn.
“You’ve got a radical on the ballot, we can’t hardly believe it,” said Johnson. “I thought Tennessee was deep red — how did it happen?”
“This is not a game: this is a dangerous far leftist, and (Behn) will be a rubber stamp for (U.S. House Minority Leader) Hakeem Jeffries and (U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez) and all the radicals in Congress,” he said.
Trump called Van Epps “fantastic.
“He’s for everything that we represent,” said Trump, before saying Behn is getting “a lot of publicity cause she’s got a little something weird and television is doing whatever it can.”
U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson, in Tennessee on Dec. 1, 2025, to boost voter turnout for a Republican congressional candidate, called President Donald Trump from the stage of a rally. (Photo: John Partipilo/Tennessee Lookout)
While campaigning with a group of supporters outside the Clarksville Public Library, Behn countered Republican attacks by saying the opposing party cast her as a “radical” in TV ads because it has no plans for what she termed an “affordability crisis” caused by the president’s policies, including raising tariffs and cutting Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act.
“Trump and his billionaire friends are spending millions of dollars on a race they should have won handily,” Behn said, two days after Democrats knocked on 13,000 doors for her campaign.
District 7 is a Republican stronghold which Trump won by 22% in the 2024 presidential election. The GOP has held the seat since 1982, through several redistricting cycles.
But the race has become a priority for both parties since Democrats swept the Nov. 4 elections in other states, including New Jersey and Virginia — both of which elected Democratic governors — and in New York City, where Zohran Mandami won the mayoral election.
Democrats across the nation drew hope from the November results and gave Republicans, who hold a three-seat majority in the U.S. House, anxiety about winning in Tennessee. A recent Emerson College/The Hill poll showed the race has narrowed to a 2% margin between the two candidates heading into Election Day.
Behn was elected to the legislature in a 2023 special election to replace the late Rep. Bill Beck. She beat three other candidates — including fellow state Reps. Vincent Dixie and Bo Mitchell — to win the Democratic nomination. During her House tenure, she has twice proposed bills that would eliminate Tennessee’s grocery tax.
Democratic National Committee Deputy Communications Director Abhi Rahman weighed in on the Van Epps rally.
“Win or lose, Republicans have been forced to spend millions, deploy resources, and pull out all of the stops to try to save a seat in a district that Trump won by 22 points,” said Rahman in a statement. “While Matt Van Epps says there is ‘no policy’ of Donald Trump’s that he disagrees with, even if it means skyrocketing costs for Tennessee families, Aftyn Behn is laser-focused on lowering grocery, housing, and health care costs.”
GOP rally draws prominent state Republicans
Other speakers at the Van Epps rally included U.S. Sens. Marsha Blackburn and Bill Hagerty, U.S. Reps. Tim Burchett, Andy Ogles and John Rose, as well as several candidates who lost to Van Epps in the Oct. 2 Republican primary.
One of those, Rep. Jody Barrett, the Dickson Republican who finished second in the primary, said it was the first Van Epps event he attended.
About 300 people attended the event, held at the home of Willis Johnson, a billionaire and Republican donor, who is also the grandfather of state Rep. Jake McCalmon, a Franklin Republican.
In making what is one of his final pitches to GOP voters, Van Epps said he plans to win decisively.
State Reps. Jody Barrett and Gino Bulso, both Republicans who ran against Van Epps in the primary election, spoke in support of Van Epps. (Photo: John Partipilo/Tennessee Lookout)
“We have the right solutions, the right plan to address affordability to drive down costs, to work on health care, childcare, housing and energy,” he said. “That’s what the president stands for, that’s what the speaker (Johnson) stands for.”
“The alternative is unacceptable,” said Van Epps.
Mike Sholar of Franklin, who said he attended the rally because Van Epps shares similar values, referenced Mandami in speaking to the Lookout.
“I am scared to death that what happened in New York will happen in my backyard,” he said.
Behn, though, said the difference between her and Van Epps is clear. While he drew support from wealthy and political powerhouses in Williamson County, she pointed out she was talking to people in Clarksville’s library parking lot.
Clarksville resident Dennis Adkins said he wanted to support Behn because the district doesn’t have to remain controlled by Republicans.
“We can change things,” Akdins said.
U.S. Sen. Bill Hagerty said he’s learned to take nothing for granted in politics. (Photo: John Partipilo)
Donations lean towards Behn, dark money spending split
Since the primary, Behn has out-fundraised Van Epps, posting just over $1 million in donations raised between the Oct. 15 pre-primary financial disclosure with the Federal Election Commission and the Nov. 12 filing. For the same period, Van Epps reported raising $590,000.
Money from independent groups has poured into both sides, with about $7 million being spent as of Nov. 25.
Johnson is only one of the national politicians who have weighed into the race: Trump endorsed Van Epps in the primary and has held two tele-rallies for him, with another scheduled for Monday night.
Rep. Aftyn Behn, the Democratic nominee for Tennessee House District 7, said Republicans do not have a plan to lower the cost of living for Americans. (Photo: John Partipilo/Tennessee Lookout)
Former Vice-President Kamala Harris urged Democrats to vote during a visit to Nashville in November, and former Vice-President Al Gore, a Tennessean, will join U.S. Reps. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez of New York and Pramila Jayapal of Washington in a Monday tele-rally.
Hagerty told the Lookout that despite the district’s regular Republican voting record, he takes nothing for granted.
“This is a special election, typically low turnout. That means they’re vulnerable to being gamed and we could get a result that doesn’t reflect the district.”
SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
