Tennessee — 7th District

Democrat Aftyn Behn was defeated in the special election for Tennessee’s 7th Congressional District on Tuesday, Dec. 2 — but you wouldn't know it from the opening moments of her concession speech.

The state representative, who was pitted against Republican Matt Van Epps, came on stage in a light-blue rhinestoned suit and broke into song before addressing her supporters, belting Dolly Parton's hit "9 to 5" in an unexpectedly joyful moment at Nashville's Marathon Music Works.

Behn, 36, thanked the crowd before acknowledging they didn't see "the results we wanted" that night. Still, she said the energy behind her campaign was "the beginning of something so powerful in Tennessee and across the south."

"I am so, so proud of the race that we won," she told her supporters. "The Republicans made these districts to be uncompetitive. They wanted us to back down, and we did not back down. We showed up."

Behn's reaction was due in part to her coming within single digits of Van Epps, who will now replace former GOP Rep. Mark Green after he resigned in July. Behn lost to Epps by only nine points in the deep-red district.

During the 2024 presidential election, President Donald Trump won over the same congressional district by a 22-point margin.

The race between Behn and Van Epps marked the final special U.S. House election of the year. Democrats had previously beat their 2024 margins in U.S. House special elections this year by an average of 16 points, according to CNN.

Van Epps ran his campaign highlighting his background as a military helicopter pilot and focusing on lowering costs.

He described himself in one campain ad as on a “new mission to bring down prices, create good-paying jobs, and lower healthcare costs for working families," per CNN.

Behn, meanwhile, focused her campaign on affordability, highlighting issues with Trump's tariffs and GOP spending bills.

She previously told CNN that she welcomed the attention to her race against Van Epps, noting that Tennessee has often had low voter turnout and that the South has "been underinvested and overlooked."

“Our theory of change was always like we have to ensure that every Democrat in the country cares about this race and sees the opportunity here to invest in the state of Tennessee,” Behn said, per CNN.

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Behn previously received support from party leaders like former Vice President Kamala Harris and Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin.

Van Epps, a Trump ally, said his close alignment with the president helped his campaign. He said his win "showed running from Trump is how you lose, running with Trump is how you win," per BBC.