Free Republic

Republican Matt Van Epps held off Democrat Aftyn Behn in Tuesday’s hotly contested special election for Tennessee’s 7th District House seat, giving the GOP a much-needed electoral victory to close out a bumpy 2025. With 99% of the expected vote in, Van Epps — a former Army helicopter pilot endorsed by President Trump — led Behn by 8.9 percentage points, well below the 22-point margin by which Trump carried the district in last year’s presidential election. Behn, a 36-year-old state representative, had raised Democrats’ hopes for a stunning upset in the conservative stronghold after late polling showed her within striking...

Tuesday is a big day for Tennessee, and for the closely divided US House of Representatives. Democrats have been vowing to turn red states blue, and last month’s elections gave them some hopeful signs, thanks largely to revved-up urban voters. This week a special election in Tennessee’s 7th District, pitting GOP military veteran Matt Van Epps against far-left candidate Aftyn Behn, will show them just how far their base can take them. Going by conventional wisdom, this should be a walkover for Van Epps: The district leans Republican by 10 percentage points, and Van Epps’ policy positions echo those of...

I am asking all America First Patriots in Tennessee’s 7th Congressional District, who haven’t voted yet, to please GET OUT AND VOTE for MAGA Warrior Matt Van Epps, tomorrow, November 26th, the last day to vote early in person. You can win this Election for Matt! PLEASE VOTE FOR MATT VAN EPPS, who has my Complete and Total Endorsement. Polls close at 12 P.M. NOON in most of TN-07, and every vote counts. IF YOU ARE IN LINE BY 12 P.M., STAY IN LINE, AND THEY MUST LET YOU VOTE! TN-07: Early Voting ends November 26th, and Election Day is...

President Donald Trump's political muscle in Republican nomination races was on full display Tuesday as a candidate he endorsed last week won a crowded and competitive GOP special election primary for a vacant congressional seat in Tennessee. Trump-backed Matt Van Epps, a former commissioner of the Tennessee Department of General Services, came out on top in a field of 11 Republican candidates vying to fill the seat in the state's solidly red 7th Congressional District, according to the Associated Press. Van Epps will now be the favorite in the Dec. 2 general election in the race to succeed former Republican...