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● InformationalElections / Campaigns

5 takeaways from Tennessee's competitive special election

Aftyn Behn lost the seat but performed substantially better than Democrats had in the district in 2024.

5 takeaways from Tennessee's competitive special election
Image · Yahoo News

SOURCE CHECK

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Host credibilityYahoo News74/100 HIGH
This article1 analysis · Oct 12, 2026

Credibility rates Yahoo News, which republished this story. The other scores rate the article itself.

Republished with credit

Republished from The Hill, with credit to the original publisher.

The Hill78/100 HIGH

356 stories · 77.5–78.1 · updated Oct 12, 2026

This is The Hill's own score, and this article is credited to The Hill. The host score in the Source Check is Yahoo News's.

Yahoo Newsvia The Hill
Dec 3, 2025
tl;dr

Republican Matt Van Epps won Tennessee’s special House election by about nine points, defeating Democrat Aftyn Behn. The closer-than-expected result prompted both parties to view the race as a signal about next year’s midterms.

Community verdict

VOTING CLOSED
How does this story look for
Aftyn Behn D · TN
NOT RATEDCLOSED

No good or bad look here

This story reports what happened without casting Behn in a good or bad light, so readers don’t rate it and it doesn’t count toward Behn’s record.

● INFORMATIONAL

People in this story

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Aftyn Behn
D · TN

Democratic candidate who lost the special election but overperformed the district’s recent Democratic results

PRIMARY SUBJECT
Matt Van Epps
R · TN-7

Republican candidate who won the special election for Tennessee’s Nashville-area House seat

Van Epps's version of this story ↗
Mike Johnson
R · LA-4

Speaker of the House who supported Van Epps in the final days of the campaign

Donald Trump
R · President of the United States

President who backed Van Epps and congratulated him after the result

Independent candidate who received half a percentage point in the race

Kamala Harris
Former U.S. Senator (D-CA)

Former vice president used as a comparison for Behn’s performance in Davidson County

ALSO MENTIONED  Ken Martin, Democratic National Committee chair who characterized Behn’s performance as a warning for Republicans; Matt Whitlock, Former adviser to the Senate Republicans’ campaign arm who warned that Van Epps’s performance was concerning

Part of a bigger story

2 OUTLETS
Matt Van Epps Wins Tennessee Special Election Against Aftyn Behn
COVERAGE BY OUTLET LEANTHIS OUTLET
ARTICLES
2
OUTLETS
2
AVG CRED
79
ALSO ABOUTMatt Van Epps

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