Matt Van Epps - December 3, 2025

MATT VAN EPPS (R), TENNESSEE REPRESENTATIVE-ELECT

nexio/sliver:

TOPIC 1 :TRUMP CELEBRATES AS REPUBLICAN MATT VAN EPPS DEFEATS ‘AOC OF TENNESSEE’ IN CLOSE CONGRESSIONAL SPECIAL ELECTION

• Republican Matt Van Epps narrowly defeated Democrat Aftyn Behn in Tuesday’s hotly contested special election for Tennessee’s 7th District House seat. Behn had raised Democrats’ hopes for an upset in the conservative stronghold after late polling showed the state lawmaker within striking distance of Van Epps, a former Army helicopter pilot backed by President Trump.
• “Congratulations to Matt Van Epps on his BIG Congressional WIN in the Great State of Tennessee,” Trump posted on Truth Social. “The Radical Left Democrats threw everything at him, including Millions of Dollars.
• The race for the vacant House seat previously held by former Rep. Mark Green, who retired earlier this year, became even more critical for Republicans to hold onto in the wake of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s (R-Ga.) decision to leave Congress come January.
• Behn was branded by Trump as the “AOC of Tennessee” – a reference to “squad” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), who campaigned for the Democratic congressional candidate – and was hit hard by the president over her past remarks about country music and Christianity. https://nypost.com/2025/12/02/us-news/republican-matt-van-epps-defeats-aoc-of-tennessee-in-close-congressional-special-election/

BUMP IN SOT: MATT VAN EPPS

“Thank you to President Trump for his early and strong endorsement. It made all the difference in this race. It carried us to victory, and we could not be happier with this resounding win.”

INTRO FS JMON: TN-07 RACEBOARD

VAN EPPS: 53.9%

BEHN: 45%

Call for fs: Trump / Green / Van Epps vote margin comparison ( also asked for with Holmes)

Call for SOT: CONGRESSMAN TIM BURCHETT (R-TN) ON HOW FAR-LEFT DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATES ARE RUNNING

“It it it is a pathetic situation, brother, that this is where the Democrat this is you know, people say it it it's not Kennedy's Democrat Party. Heck it's not even Bill Clinton's Democrat Party anymore. This thing is so far to the left. They're bringing in AOC and Al Gore, for goodness sakes, the guy that tells us we're gonna have this global warming and yet it's record cold in Tennessee and he still has a platform.”

Call for SOT: AFTYN BEHN, AFTER RACE WAS CALLED, ON THE FUTURE OF THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY

“I think all of those people are going to start working campaigns are going to start running for office, and we're going to see, just, just the cavalry come in for it to restore, democracy in our state. // We outraised them, and we had more volunteers to knock more doors. And I think they're gonna — the Republican majority’s time is coming.”