America’s political attention is turning to Tennessee.
Volunteer State voters are heading to the polls on Tuesday, Dec. 2, for a special election to replace former Republican Rep. Mark Green in the 7th congressional district, which is just west of Nashville.
The district, which includes parts of Davidson County and 13 other counties, has become competitive between the two major parties in recent weeks, with polling showing a close race between Republican combat veteran Matt Van Epps and Democrat state representative Aftyn Behn.
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Democrat Aftyn Behn (L) and Republican Matt Van Epps (R).
Van Epps is leading by only 2 percentage points over Behn, 48% to 46%, according to an Emerson College Polling/The Hill poll released last week. The survey results are within the margin of error.
Top Republicans, including House Speaker Mike Johnson and President Donald Trump, have campaigned for Van Epps with an eye on keeping GOP control of the area and also the party’s narrow majority overall in the U.S. House. Top Democrats have also shown out for Behn, including former Vice President Kamala Harris.
Tuesday’s election comes as Democrats have seen major wins in off-year elections, including the governor races in New Jersey and Virginia, as well as the New York City mayoral race.
Here’s what to know about the election.
Who is Democrat Aftyn Behn?
Tennessee state Rep. Aftyn Behn speaks during a Democratic Party forum for candidates running for the 7th Congressional District special election at the Fairview Recreation Center in Fairview Sunday, Sept. 7, 2025.
Behn, a 36-year-old state House representative, was first an activist in the halls of the state Capitol before joining the statehouse.
She was elected to represent House District 51, which includes parts of Davidson County where Nashville is located, in a special election called after the death of former state Rep. Bill Beck in 2023. She won reelection to the district in 2024. She’s the youngest female member of the Tennessee state legislature.
Prior to being elected to the statehouse, Behn spent nearly a decade organizing across Middle Tennessee, advocating for Medicaid expansion, fighting rural hospital closures, and seeking to lower the cost of living.
Affordability is one of the key policies she’s campaigning on to make it to the U.S. House.
Behn’s campaign slogan is to “feed kids, fix roads and fund hospitals.”
“If you think things are going well, I am not your candidate,” Behn said during an October interview on NewsChannel 5. “If you are upset with the cost of living and the chaos of our federal and state government, then I am your candidate because I will go to Washington to fix it.”
Who is Republican Matt Van Epps?
Republican congressional candidate Matt Van Epps speaks during a get out the vote event on Dec.1, 2025 in Franklin, Tennessee.
He scored the endorsement from Trump. He got the backing of billionaire-funded PACs. And he even got the support from current and former Tennessee governors.
Van Epps, 42, went from virtually unknown to a Republican heavy hitter who saw the backing of Republican strategists, donors and state officials in the now closely-watched race.
Van Epps grew up in an affluent suburb of Cleveland, Ohio, and moved to Tennessee after a 10-year military career in the U.S. Army. He is a decorated combat helicopter pilot who served nine tours in Afghanistan and Iraq and is a West Point graduate.
He is now a lieutenant colonel in the Tennessee Army National Guard.
Outside the military, Van Epps worked in the Veterans Services and Transportation departments, and led the Department of General Services.
He was also labeled as “Tennessee’s Fauci” by opponents in the Republican primary. Van Epps’ job title was “strategic planner” in Tennessee’s COVID-19 Unified Command Group at the beginning of the pandemic from March 2020 until May that year. He was part of a tight circle of state leaders that helped shape the state’s COVID-19 policies and no-bid contract spending — without legislative approval — during the pandemic.
Tennessee was one of the fastest states to reopen after the pandemic shutdown, and nearly 28,600 Tennesseans died due to COVID-19 between 2020 and 2022.
Why is there a special election?
Green, who was first elected in 2018, announced in June that he was resigning from Congress on July 20 to start a new job in the private sector, leaving the historically Republican leaning district open to the special election.
During his resignation announcement, Green said he would stay on to help pass President Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful bill,” which was signed into law on July 4.
More than a dozen candidates jumped into the race to fill Green’s seat. Van Epps and Behn won their respective primaries in October.
Who won the 7th congressional district in 2024?
Tennessee’s 7th congressional district has been a solid red seat after the state’s Republican-controlled legislature redrew its boundaries in 2022 by splitting Democrat-stronghold Nashville into three districts.
In November 2024, Green cruised to his fourth term with nearly 60% of the vote before resigning just months later.
It was a district that Trump also won by 22 percentage points over Harris in the 2024 presidential election.
Contributing: Vivian Jones, Nashville Tennessean; Joey Garrison and Zac Anderson, USA TODAY
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Who are Tennessee special election candidates Behn and Van Epps?
