Both parties should take caution after Tennessee race: Byron York
York said Van Epps’s victory is “a huge thing” for Republicans, as it slightly expanded their thin majority and will make it easier for them to pass legislation. York explained how Democrats are framing this race as a win, despite Behn losing by a small margin. Van Epps won by roughly 9% in a district that President Donald Trump won by about 22% last year.
“Now, is nine points that narrow a victory? I don’t know because it’s reasonably an impressive victory, and there is a debate this morning among Democrats, among centrist Democrats, who are saying, ‘Look, if you elect left-wing candidates like Aftyn Behn, you’re not going to perform as well as you can in a number of centrist districts. So I think there’s something to caution both sides in this election result,” York said on Fox News’s America’s Newsroom.
York added that there is “an impression” that Trump was elected because of inflation that rose under former President Joe Biden’s watch, which Trump has not addressed enough. York said Republicans have reason to be concerned about the midterm elections, as Trump’s approval rating is “somewhere in the 40s,” and it’s common for the sitting party in the White House to lose the House.
POLLS OVERSOLD DEMOCRATS’ CHANCES IN TENNESSEE SPECIAL ELECTION BUT PARTY STILL SEES HOPE IN RESULTS
Prior to election night, Behn said Republicans have not delivered on affordability, to which the Washington Examiner‘s Joe Concha argued that affordability was “taken away” during the Biden administration. However, Concha contended that Democrats are “on a roll” following November’s elections, in which the party soundly won top races in New Jersey, Virginia, and New York City.