Headline Roundup • December 3rd, 2025
What Does Matt Van Epps' Tennessee Special Election Win Mean for the GOP?
Summary from the AllSides News Team
Republican Matt Van Epps won the special election in Tennessee on Tuesday night against progressive candidate Aftyn Behn (54.5% to 45.5%). But is the single-digit margin win in a conservative Nashville-area district a warning sign for the GOP?
From the Left: Politico (Lean Left bias) reported that the Republican Party was expecting a "tighter-than-comfortable" race and supported Van Epps in recent days, with Speaker Mike Johnson traveling to the district. Johnson himself is facing challenges within his party by members who want to vote on banning congressional stock trading and require the FBI to notify Congress when investigating candidates for federal office. Johnson is also promising House Republicans to come up with a health policy proposal.
From the Center: The Hill (Center bias) focused on five takeaways from the special election. In its analysis, the Hill reported that the Republicans had avoided a loss that would have narrowed their margin in the House and that Democrats were pleased that the issue of affordability led to a closer race than expected. The race also showed that early voting may not be the best indicator of final results, and that independent candidates may not help Democrats win as the start of the midterm election push begins.
From the Right: ZeroHedge (Lean Right bias) noted that the race drew national attention and was "widely viewed as a referendum" on President Donald Trump, who endorsed Van Epps during the primary. Trump carried this 7th Congressional District seat, which includes part of downtown Nashville, by 22 points in 2024. ZeroHedge also noted that the Republican Party's tight majority in the House makes the GOP vulnerable, as their margin will further shrink after Marjorie Taylor Green (R-GA) resigns in January.
Written by the AllSides staff (of humans). Learn more. Suggest an improvement to this summary.
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ZeroHedge
Republicans will hold onto Tennessee's 7th Congressional District despite a push by Democrats to flip the deep-red seat, the Associated Press projected Tuesday, as Republican candidate Matt Van Epps was set to defeat Democrat Aftyn Behn.
The former state commissioner and Army helicopter pilot defeated the Democratic nominee, Aftyn Behn, with 53.9 percent of the vote in the highly publicized race, according to The Associated Press as of 9:45 p.m. ET. Behn had 45.1 percent, with nearly all votes counted.
The high-stakes election was neck and neck ahead of election...
Speaker Mike Johnson held onto a much-needed red seat in Tennessee last night — but fellow Republicans say this isn't cause for celebration.
Johnson's leadership's team was bracing for a tighter-than-comfortable race in the special election to succeed former Rep. Mark Green, Meredith Lee Hill writes in.
But the single-digit margin of victory for Matt Van Epps was still a hard pill to swallow after national Republicans pulled out all the stops to rescue their candidate on the final days of the campaign, with the speaker himself traveling to the...
Republican Matt Van Epps (R) won a special election on Tuesday in Tennessee in what was seen as a likely bellwether for next year's midterms.
Van Epps defeated state Rep. Aftyn Behn (D) for a Nashville-area House seat that went for President Trump by over 20 points last year. According to voting data on Tuesday night, he won the seat by roughly 9 points, raising alarm bells for some in the GOP who fear the surprising competitiveness of the race could be a bad omen for next year.
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