Trump-backed Van Epps wins Tennessee House race as margin tightens

Watch Trump-backed Van Epps wins Tennessee House race as margin tightens - Straight Arrow News on Dailymotion

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00:00The Trump-backed candidate in Tennessee's special election for an open U.S. House seat

00:07claimed victory Tuesday. Military veteran and former state general services commissioner

00:12Matt Van Epps defeated Democratic State Representative Afton Bain for Tennessee's

00:177th congressional district. The seat opened up after Republican Mark Green resigned in July,

00:23saying he had received a private sector opportunity too exciting to pass up.

00:28President Trump congratulated Van Epps on social media, saying he won despite what he called

00:33the radical left, throwing, quote, everything at him. He had dubbed Bain the AOC of Tennessee.

00:40Democrats, however, are touting the results as a partial win, pointing out they shrank the GOP's

00:45big advantage in a district Republicans have held since 1983. Van Epps won by nine points,

00:52a significant drop from the 21-point margin Mark Green won by just last year.

00:57Part of a broader pattern of Democrats posting stronger than expected numbers in special

01:02elections this year, with the key 2026 midterms now less than a year away.