Name: Slimmer-than-expected margin in Tennessee special election win
Uploaded: 2025-12-04T00:27:10.776Z
Duration: 3 min 10 s
Description: After a strong challenge from his Democratic opponent, Republican Matt Van Epps won a key special election for a U.S. House seat in Tennessee on Tuesday night.

After a strong challenge from his Democratic opponent, Republican Matt Van Epps won a key special election for a U.S. House seat in Tennessee on Tuesday night.

Tennessee

Republican Matt Van Epps won the special election in Tennessee's 7th Congressional District, defeating Democrat Afton Bain by nine points. This margin is notably smaller than former President Trump's 22-point victory in the district during the 2024 presidential election. 

Both parties are analyzing the results, with Democrats viewing the closer margin as a sign of momentum and Republicans crediting their win to high-profile endorsements and voter mobilization. The outcome is being seen as a potential indicator for the upcoming 2026 midterm elections.

Slimmer-than-expected margin in Tennessee special election win

After a stronger-than-expected challenge from his Democratic opponent, Republican Matt Van Epps won a key special election in Tennessee last night. Van Epps won by nine points in the deeply red 7th Congressional District. It marks a stark difference from President Trump's 22-point victory in the 2024 presidential election. Van Epps' victory will help the Republican Party's efforts to maintain its razor-thin majority in the House. CBS News Executive Director of White House and Politics, Finn Gomez, joins us now. Finn, good to see you. What are some key factors that went into this race? Yeah, good to see you, too, Lindsay. Yeah, ultimately, Democrats knew they had a tough battle ahead of them in this district. As you said, Trump won the same district last year by 22 points over Kamala Harris. But what many didn't expect here was the Democratic overperformance that occurred last night. Man, Matt Van Epps, as you said, a combat veteran, an Army combat veteran, won in this special election. But yes, but by a much slimmer margin than expected. He beat the Democrat in the race, Afton Bain, by just nine points in this ruby-red district. Democrats say it is a warning sign for Republicans with the 2026 midterms less than a year away. Republicans that I spoke to say Van Epps won by leaning into the president's endorsement of his campaign and by having some Republican heavy hitters like Speaker Johnson's in those final days before the election campaigning in the district. And that helped propel enough Republican voters out during a December election when Trump is not on the ballot. So turnouts hold the story here. That was the biggest factor. Democrats overperformed in key suburban pockets, but Republicans ultimately mobilized enough of their base, especially in rural counties, to hold that seat. Lindsey. So are there any lessons that you think the parties are taking away from this or is this too much of an outlier? Yeah, I spoke to both Democrats and Republicans and they are taking some lessons away from this election result last night. Top Democrats that I spoke to tell me they expected to lose, but that loss, again, the single-digit loss in its deeply-red district builds on the momentum they see they have gained from some of this year's wins. Of course, if you recall, back on November 4th in New Jersey, Virginia, California, and New York City, big wins there by Democrats primarily on a blue landscape, yes, but it helps drive momentum as they head into this crucial 2026 midterm cycle. One top Democrat strategist who previously ran presidential campaigns says that Tennessee shows that even though Republicans spent over $5 million in this seat to defend this seat, they won. And so, essentially, they have the momentum right now and they feel the Republicans are vulnerable. Republicans at the same time believe that they actually did a pretty solid job. They mobilized their base and they got big, heavy hitters to come into the district and ultimately win, but it does seem like this battle is gonna just, it's just getting started. This is the last congressional seat of the year. We expect a big, big cycle coming up in just about a month away. Right, Ben Gomez, thank you. Thank you.

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