Millions pour into Tennessee special election ahead of December vote

Money is pouring into a deep-red House district in Tennessee ahead of an early December special election as the candidates and their super PAC backers ramp up spending

Money is pouring into a deep-red House district in Tennessee ahead of an early December special election as the candidates and their super PAC backers ramp up spending.

Republican Matt Van Epps, a former state official, and Democratic state Rep. Aftyn Behn are in a heated ad war that has drawn notable outside groups from both parties into the 7th Congressional District, which President Donald Trump carried by 22 points in 2024.

Behn’s campaign raised more than $1 million from Oct. 1 to Nov. 12, according to a campaign finance filing Thursday. She spent a little more than half of that during the same period. Van Epps, meanwhile, raised about $591,000 and spent most of it, leaving him with $231,000 in the bank for the stretch run. Behn had about $522,000 on hand at the close of the fundraising period.

Behn hopes to mobilize independents and moderate Republicans, as well as her Nashville Democratic base, to capitalize on expected low turnout. She sees a path to victory by defining herself as an accountability candidate who could put a check on President Donald Trump’s party in the House, particularly criticizing the GOP’s signature tax cuts and spending bill, as well as Trump’s tariffs. And she’s running an unabashedly Democratic campaign, leaning on Democratic National Committee Chairman Ken Martin and former Vice President Kamala Harris.

But that support from establishment figures is giving her opponent fodder.