Republican Matt Van Epps narrowly hung on to a House seat in a Tennessee district President Donald Trump easily won one year ago, a warning about the GOP’s deteriorating political position and a disappointment to Democrats who had spent millions hoping to deliver a major psychic blow to the party in power.
Van Epps, a combat veteran, defeated liberal activist-turned-state lawmaker Aftyn Behn in a special election race that came to symbolize how bad things could get for the GOP in next year’s midterm elections as Trump’s popularity continues to suffer and voters rebel over a high cost of living. Trump won the seat by 22 percentage points in 2024, but internal polls for both parties consistently showed a much tighter contest.
The victory will also deliver a tiny amount of breathing room for House Speaker Mike Johnson and the razor-thin GOP House majority, which will stand at 220-213 after Van Epps is sworn in. Future special elections and the pending retirement of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene will almost certainly shrink the margin to 219-215 early next year.
The race saw massive voter participation for a special election held between Thanksgiving and Christmas, with turnout approaching levels typically seen in midterm elections, diluting Democrats’ typical advantage among high-propensity voters.
