The stage is now set for the December 2 general election match-up between Republican Congressional nominee Matt Van Epps and Democrat nominee Aftyn Behn.
Van Epps easily secured his win with over 50% of the Republican primary voters selecting him as their nominee. Van Epps had a margin of slightly over 2500 votes after early voting and stretched it too about 10,000 with a strong push on election day and the momentum of a late endorsement from President Donald Trump. Although it started slow, GOP election day turnout gained traction throughout the day as the weather cleared.
Van Epps immediate challenge is to unify Republican voters in the district after a bitterly divisive primary battle, fueled by over $2 million in out of state PACs launching brutal attacks on his opponents. The timeline to the December 2 general election doesn’t leave him much time to heal the wounds of those who were targeted by his allies.
For the Democrats, liberal State Rep. Aftyn Behn prevailed over three fellow Dems, but only secured about 28% of the primary vote. Behn has been dubbed the “AOC of Tennessee”, a title she has enthusiastically embraced, but which may not play well in the rural counties that make up the 14-county Seventh District in the general election. Her biggest challenge heading into the December 2 face-off with Van Epps is whether she can convince the national Democratic Party to dump a few million dollars into the race.
Tennessee’s seventh congressional district is rated about a +12 Republican composition, and Donald Trump won the district by over 20 points last year. Early voting for the December 2 general election will flow into Thanksgiving week, and the election date itself is just a day after school kids return to classrooms following that Thanksgiving break. Low voter turnout, combined with conservative voters who may be reluctant to embrace Van Epps, could theoretically give Democrats a chance to pick up the seat. However, if Van Epps can engage and motivate the conservative voters in the district who didn’t support him in the primary, either by voting for other candidates or by staying home, he should keep the 7th District in the “red” column.
