Trump endorser Matt van Epps wins GOP primary for vacant Tennessee House seat

Matt Van Epps, a former state official who earned an endorsement from President Donald Trump last week, won the Republican nomination Tuesday in the special election for Tennessee’s 7th Congressional District House seat, NBC News Projects.

Van Epps beat 10 other Republican candidates after a primary in which all campaigned on their support for Trump. But Van Epps was the only one to get Trump’s support, adding him to early endorsements from former Rep. Mark Green — the Republican who resigned from the 7th District this year — as well as Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee and Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio.

Van Epps now moves on to the district’s special general election, which Trump carried with more than 60% of the vote last year. The 7th District runs from two of Tennessee’s richest counties to some of its poorest, including an Army base and part of Nashville. He has been solidly Republican for decades.

State Rep. Aftyn Behn, a community organizer and licensed social worker, won the Democratic primary in a close match against two other state lawmakers and a businessman. She represents a deep blue seat that includes downtown and East Nashville.

Democrats hope to compete in the heavily Republican seat in the special general election on Dec. 2, which is likely to see lower voter turnout than a regular election.

Van Epps, a lieutenant colonel in the Tennessee Army National Guard and former active-duty combat pilot in the Army, hoped to appeal to voters with his platform of “security, opportunity and prosperity.” Its goals include investing in infrastructure like small nuclear reactors, broadband and cellphone coverage.

In an interview before Trump’s endorsement, Van Epps said he wanted to continue Green’s work in Congress, noting his work with Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.

“What he did to secure the border and work with Secretary Noem and the president serves as a good way to pick up the ball and run with it to where he had it,” Van Epps said.

He said he was pleased with Trump’s deployment of National Guard troops to Memphis, which is not in the 7th District, and would support additional deployments.

Van Epps said he hopes to remain in the State Guard if elected. He had been on active duty for a decade and has been in the Guard for eight years.

After Trump announced he was supporting Van Epps, a pair of Republican candidates suspended their campaigns, although they still appeared on the ballot. The field of other Republican candidates included one pardoned by Trump for his role in the January 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol.

Van Epps will face Behn in December. In an Instagram video Monday, the new Democratic candidate said she hoped to reach voters under 45, who make up the majority of the district but were outnumbered by older voters during the two weeks of early voting.

Behn also noted that she was the only woman in either party’s race, although she encountered questions from fellow state Rep. Vincent Dixie — the only black Democratic candidate — about how she would ensure black voters would be represented in Washington if elected, the Nashville Banner reported. She responded that she would add a full-time black organizer for the Davidson County Democratic Party.