NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
FRANKLIN, TN – Republican National Committee (RNC) Chair Joe Gruters says that the Democrats’ momentum following their sweeping victories in last month’s 2025 ballot box showdowns will come to an end in Tuesday’s special election for a hotly contested GOP-controlled vacant House seat in a ruby red Tennessee congressional district.
“Tennessee is the red wall. So they’re not getting past Tennessee. We’re going to win this race. This is our territory,” the RNC chair told Fox News Digital after speaking at a rally for Matt Van Epps, the GOP congressional nominee in a must-win race for Republicans.
Van Epps is facing off against Democratic nominee Aftyn Behn in the race to succeed former GOP Rep. Mark Green, who resigned from office in June to take a private sector job.
TOP SURROGATES HIT CAMPAIGN TRAIL ON EVE OF CRUCIAL CONGRESSIONAL SHOWDOWN
Republican congressional nominee Matt Van Epps is joined by House Speaker Mike Johnson at an Election Eve rally in Franklin, Tennessee, on Dec. 1, 2025. (Paul Steinhauser/Fox News)
President Donald Trump carried the 7th Congressional District — which is located in central and western Tennessee, stretches from Kentucky to Alabama, and includes parts of Nashville — by 22 points in last year’s presidential election. And Green won the district by over 20 points in his 2022 and 2024 re-elections.
But Democrats are energized following the 2025 elections, and polls suggest a close contest between Van Epps and Behn in a race that’s seen as a key barometer ahead of next year’s midterm elections, when the GOP will be defending its razor-thin House majority.
WATCH: WHAT AFTYN BEHN TOLD FOX NEWS DIGITAL ON ELECTION EVE
Pointing to New York City, New Jersey and Virginia, where the Democrats scored high-profile victories last month, Gruters said they are “a lot different than Nashville, Tennessee and these communities out here.”
“From a registration perspective and from a party perspective, this is our home turf…. We’ll get right back on track to the 2026 midterms with a victory,” Gruters predicted.
Republican National Committee chair Joe Gruters speaks at a rally for GOP congressional nominee Mark Van Epps, on Dec. 1, 2025 in Franklin, Tennessee. (Paul Steinhauser/Fox News)
Outside groups aligned with both parties have shelled out millions of dollars to run ads in the race and pour resources onto the campaign trail.
And on Election Eve, Gruters and House Speaker Mike Johnson joined Van Epps at a series of campaign stops.
“We’re going to win this seat, but we cannot take anything for granted,” Johnson said in an interview with Fox News Digital.
DEMOCRATS, REPUBLICANS, GO ALL IN ON FINAL 2025 CONGRESSIONAL BALLOT BOX SHOWDOWN
“Special elections are strange because a lot of people take for granted in a deep red district like this that the Republican is just going to win automatically. Nothing’s automatic. So we’re here to help turn out the vote and make sure we get this great candidate right over that line,” Johnson said.
Aiming to motivate low-propensity Trump supporters, who often don’t vote when the president’s not on the ballot, Johnson emphasized that “we take no vote for granted. We need everybody to turn out.”
Before introducing Van Epps at Monday’s first rally, Johnson called Trump on his cell phone and the president spoke to the crowd for over four minutes.
“Let’s make it a sweeping victory,” Trump said. “The whole world is watching Tennessee right now. And they’re watching your district. The whole world. It’s a big vote. It’s going to show something. It’s got to show that the Republican Party is stronger than it’s ever been.”
Trump joined Van Epps later in the day for an evening tele rally.
In another sign of the importance of holding the seat, Republican Gov. Bill Lee, GOP Sens. Marsha Blackburn and Bill Hagerty, as well as Republican members of Congress from Tennessee, state GOP lawmakers and rival candidates who lost to Van Epps in last month’s primary, showed up in support.
Van Epps, a military combat veteran and former commissioner of the Tennessee Department of General Services who was backed by Trump in the primary, told Fox News Digital that “we’re going to win decisively.”
The RNC spent nearly half a million dollars to support Van Epps. The national party committee deployed full-time RNC field staff to the district and launched get out the vote and persuasive mail efforts in partnership with the Tennessee GOP.
The rival Democratic National Committee (DNC) also poured plenty of resources into the race. And DNC Chair Ken Martin campaigned with Behn late last month.
“If a Trump +22 seat is where Republicans are drawing the line and making their final stand, they should get ready to be in the minority after the midterms next year,” DNC deputy communications director Abhi Rahman told Fox News Digital.
MUSIC CITY MIRACLE: A LOOK AT AN UNUSUALLY CONTENTIOUS ELECTION IN THE VOLUNTEER STATE
Behn, a state representative, former healthcare community organizer, told supporters at a canvassing launch event on Monday that “this race is a lot closer than they [Republicans] ever expected.”
And Behn, speaking with Fox News Digital, argued that “we’ve been building, we’ve been organizing, they’ve [Republicans] been scapegoating.”
And Behn also enjoyed support from high-profile surrogates on Election Eve.
Progressive champion Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York headlined a virtual rally on Monday evening for Behn, a rising progressive star who some have dubbed the “AOC of Tennessee.”
Ocasio-Cortez was joined by Rep. Pramila Jayapal of Washington state, who chaired the Congressional Progressive Caucus the past four years, Black Voters Matter Fund co-founder LaTosha Brown and former Vice President Al Gore, a Tennessee native.
Behn has faced repeated attacks that she’s out of step with voters in the district.
“She does not represent the values of Tennessee or of America. She is as far left as you can get. She’s a radical,” Van Epps claimed in his Fox News Digital interview. “We have to reject that ideology. And we’re going to do that tomorrow.”
House Speaker Mike Johnson, left, and Republican congressional nominee Matt Van Epps are interviewed by Fox News Digital on Election Eve, in Franklin, Tennessee, on Dec. 1, 2025. (Paul Steinhauser/Fox News)
Johnson argued at the Franklin rally that Behn was a “radical” and “a dangerous far leftist. And she will be a rubber stamp for Hakeem Jeffries and AOC and all the radicals in Congress.”
And Trump, repeating comments he made over the weekend on social media, charged that Behn “hates Christianity” and “hates country music.”
Trump was referring to past comments Behn made from a 2020 podcast.
“I hate the city, I hate the bachelorettes, I hate the pedal taverns, I hate country music, I hate all of the things that make Nashville apparently an ‘it’ city to the rest of the country. But I hate it,” she said in the podcast.
The district is solidly red, but includes parts of the Democratic stronghold of Nashville, Tennessee’s capital and its most populous city, and a major national center for the country music industry. The district encompasses parts of north and west Nashville, including the downtown area which has long been a very popular tourist destination.
Behn, in a CNN interview on Sunday, noted that she was a “private citizen” when she made the comments. “Nashville is my home. Do I roll my eyes at the bachelorette parties and the pedal taverns that are blocking my access to my house? Yeah. Every Nashvillian does. But this race has always been about something bigger. It’s about families across middle Tennessee that are getting crushed by rising prices.”
Democratic congressional nominee Aftyn Behn speaks to supporters at a party office on Election Eve, in Franklin, Tennessee on Dec. 1, 2025. (Paul Steinhauser/Fox News)
Republicans are also taking aim at Behn over an op-ed titled, “Tennessee is a racist state, and so is its legislature,” that appeared in a 2019 edition of The Tennessean newspaper.
The RNC, pointing in a recent social media post to the six-year-old opinion piece, asked, “If Behn hates Tennessee so much, why is she trying to represent it?”
Also resurfacing in recent weeks are anti-police comments Behn made on a now-deleted social media account.
“Clearly, I’m living rent-free in President Trump’s mind,” Behn told supporters on Monday.
And asked by Fox News Digital about the incoming verbal fire from Republicans, Behn joked, “I always love to hear from my fans.”
She touted that “I have a track record of showing up in the hard fights and small fights in between, not only as an organizer and as an activist, but as a legislator.”
And sticking to her key issue of tackling the high cost of living, Behn said she’s “running on a very simple message of addressing the affordability crisis that Tennesseans are facing, and they [Republicans] don’t have a remedy for it.”
Should Behn pull off an upset and win, the GOP House majority would become so fragile the Democrats could have a shot of taking back the chamber next year ahead of the midterms if one or two more Republicans leave Congress early. Republicans were rattled last month when MAGA rock star and top Trump ally Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene announced she would step down in January following a falling out with the president.
“Since I became speaker, I presided over some of the smallest majorities in history. Every seat counts,” Johnson told Fox News Digital.
The showdown in Tennessee isn’t the only ballot box showdown capturing national attention on Tuesday.
Former New Jersey Gov. Jim McGreevey made his return to Garden State politics this year in his run to serve as the next mayor of Jersey City. (Jim Spellman/WireImage)
In New Jersey, a disgraced former Democratic governor is seeking a political comeback, but may be blocked by a younger progressive candidate who’s gaining momentum.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
Former Gov. Jim McGreevey, the 68-year-old who resigned more than two decades ago, is facing off against 41-year-old Councilmember James Solomon in a runoff election for mayor in Jersey City, which is the Garden State’s second most populous city.
The election comes a month after former New York State Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who resigned amid multiple scandals four years ago, was defeated by now-Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani in New York City’s high-profile mayoral showdown.
Original News Source Link – Fox News
Running For Office? Conservative Campaign Consulting – Monthly Rates!