Republican candidate projected to win Tennessee special election

Republican Matt Van Epps is projected to win a special election Tuesday in Tennessee's 7th Congressional District, according to the elections analysis website Decision Desk HQ.

Van Epps, who previously served as Tennessee's commissioner of the Department of General Services, is expected to defeat Democratic state Representative Aftyn Behn in the closely watched election.

The vote fills a US House seat vacated by former Representative Mark Green, whose sudden resignation in July triggered the special election in Tennessee's reliably Republican 7th District, where President Donald Trump easily claimed victory by 22 points in 2024 over Democratic candidate Kamala Harris.

In a sign of the importance of Tuesday's election, Trump called into an event hosted by House Speaker Mike Johnson the day prior to stir up fervor among Republican voters.

"The whole world is watching Tennessee right now, and they're watching your district," Trump said after Johnson put him on speaker phone at the event. "It's a big vote and it's gonna show something. And it's gonna show that the Republican Party is stronger than it's ever been."