Tennessee’s 7th Congressional District special election will be held on Dec. 2. Here's what to know and how to keep up with results.

Republican Matt Van Epps won the Tennessee 7th Congressional special election, but Aftyn Behn's overperformance has Democrats celebrating, too, and sets up an affordability focus in the 2026 midterms.

Voters in Tennessee elected Republican Matt Van Epps to fill a vacant U.S. House of Representatives seat, U.S. media outlets projected on Tuesday, padding the narrow lead by President Donald Trump's party in the chamber heading into next year's midterm elections.

Republican candidate Matt Van Epps won the District 7 seat on Tuesday, Dec. 2. The 34-year-old combat veteran and former commissioner of the Tennessee Department of General Services, overtook Aftyn Behn, a progressive Democratic state representative, by single digits, USA TODAY reported.

Their winning margin has been much-reduced, after a contest that was seen as a test of Donald Trump's popularity.

Republican Matt Van Epps, a military veteran and former state general services commissioner, defeated Democratic state Rep. Aftyn Behn by 9 percentage points on Tuesday for the seat vacated by Republican Mark Green, who retired over the summer. Green had won reelection in 2024 by 21 percentage points.