Tennessee special election is a test for Republicans — and a bellwether for Democrats
Van Epps is the Republican candidate in a closely watched special election for a seat important to the House majority.

SOURCE CHECK
TAP FOR WHYCredibility rates Yahoo News, which republished this story. The other scores rate the article itself.
Yahoo News is an established national news publisher, and the article identifies an author and attributes polling, spending figures and quotations. The text does not provide enough information to assess the publisher’s correction practices or the author’s reporting process.
- Source type — An established national news publisher.
- Editorial standards — The article attributes claims to named speakers and identifies polling and ad-spending sources.
- Author attribution — The article identifies an author.
- Correction history — No correction policy or history is evident in the article.
The report gives polling and spending figures with named sources and includes comments from both party leaders. It offers limited detail about the poll’s methodology or the candidates’ own positions.
HOW WE SCORE ↗The article includes Republican and Democratic perspectives alongside polling and spending information. It gives substantial attention to the race’s implications but little direct input from either candidate.
- Counterarguments presented — Both party leaders are quoted, including Jeffries’s caution that Democrats are not openly projecting confidence.
- Source diversity — Polling and ad-spending data supplement statements from political figures.
- Omitted context — The candidates’ own views and detailed poll methodology are not included.
- Loaded language — Charged phrases appear as attributed quotations rather than the reporter’s characterization.
The report uses largely neutral language, presents polling and spending figures, and includes remarks from Republican and Democratic leaders without adopting either side’s claims.
- Language tone — Mostly descriptive language; partisan characterizations are quoted and attributed.
- Source selection — Includes comments from leaders of both parties and cites polling and spending data.
- Framing — Frames the contest as consequential for both parties without endorsing either side.
Republished
Republished from Deseret News. The relationship between the two publishers has not been determined.
78 stories · 76–78 · updated Oct 13, 2026
This is Deseret News's own score, and this article is credited to Deseret News. The host score in the Source Check is Yahoo News's.
A Tennessee special election that could affect Republicans’ slim House majority is much closer than expected, with polling showing a competitive race between Matt Van Epps and Aftyn Behn. The contest is also being watched for signs of how Democrats may fare in the 2026 midterms.
The special election in Tennessee’s 7th District will fill the seat vacated by Mark Green. Although Green won the district with nearly 60% of the vote and Donald Trump carried it by about 22 percentage points in 2024, polling has shown a close contest between Republican Matt Van Epps and Democrat Aftyn Behn. An Emerson College/The Hill poll put Van Epps two points ahead.
Republican leaders campaigned for Van Epps, and Republican political action committees had outspent Democratic counterparts $3.1 million to $2.3 million, according to AdImpact. House Speaker Mike Johnson warned against assuming Republicans would win; Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries called the race’s competitiveness and Republican spending extraordinary. The article says the outcome could affect Republicans’ slim House majority and serve as a bellwether for the 2026 midterms.
Community verdict
VOTING CLOSEDNo good or bad look here
This story reports what happened without casting Van Epps in a good or bad light, so readers don’t rate it and it doesn’t count toward Van Epps’s record.
People in this story
SWIPE →Republican candidate in the Tennessee 7th District special election
Democratic candidate in the Tennessee 7th District special election
Behn's version of this story ↗Former representative whose retirement left the seat vacant
Speaker of the House and campaigner for Van Epps
President and supporter of Van Epps
House Minority Leader commenting on the race
Part of a bigger story
12 OUTLETSMatt Van Epps defeated Aftyn Behn to win Tennessee’s 7th District special election for the U.S. House. Left-leaning outlets frame the narrow margin as a warning for Republicans and a sign of Democratic momentum. Center outlets focus on the result and its wider electoral implications, with some emphasizing the margin’s potential significance for Republicans. Right-leaning outlets consider what the result means for both parties and point to district boundaries as a factor in Van Epps’s win.
- ARTICLES
- 15
- OUTLETS
- 12
- AVG CRED
- 71
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