Trump-backed Republican touts 'great turnout for us' in must-win special election for GOP

By Fox News · Fox News

The Republican congressional nominee in a special election for a hotly contested GOP-controlled vacant U.S. House seat in ruby-red Tennessee says he's getting "incredible reports back all across the district." Matt Van Epps touted "great turnout for us" as he spoke with Fox News Digital Tuesday morning after greeting supporters outside a polling station. "We were up in early voting, and we're just going to keep pressing forward to win today." Van Epps is facing off against Democratic nominee Aftyn Behn in the race to succeed former GOP Rep. Mark Green, who resigned from office in June to take a private sector job. With the GOP clinging to a razor-thin majority in the House, the election is seen as a must-win for Republicans . DECISION DAY: TRUMP, SPEAKER JOHNSON, AOC BLITZ CAMPAIGN TRAIL ON EVE OF KEY SHOWDOWN President Donald Trump carried the 7th Congressional District — which is located in central and western Tennessee, stretches from Kentucky to Alabama, and includes parts of Nashville — by 22 points in last year's presidential election. And Green won the district by over 20 points in his 2022 and 2024 re-elections. But Democrats are energized following the 2025 elections, and public opinion surveys suggested a close contest between Van Epps and Behn in a showdown that's seen as a key barometer ahead of next year's midterm elections , when the GOP will be defending its majority. WATCH: WHAT AFTYN BEHN TOLD FOX NEWS DIGITAL ON ELECTION EVE Asked by Fox News Digital if he needed to win the election by a certain margin, Van Epps said, "a win is a win." But the military combat veteran and former commissioner of the Tennessee Department of General Services added that "we're going to press as hard as we can to win by the biggest margin we can, and then we're going to hold the majority in '26." Behn, a state representative and former healthcare community organizer, who's been dubbed the "AOC of the South" in a comparison to progressive champion Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-…