Democrats choose candidates for special congressional elections in Tennessee

Democrats selected their candidate for a vacant seat during a special congressional election on Tuesday in Tennessee.

Aftyn Behn, a former health care community organizer and current Democratic state representative, has clinched her party’s nomination, according to The Associated Press. The Dickson County Democratic Party described Behn as “our own AOC of TN,” in a reference to U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., according to The Tennessee Star.

The primary field included three state representatives and a consultant in Tennessee’s solidly red 7th Congressional District.

Behn will now be considered the underdog in the Dec. 2 general election in the race to replace former Republican Rep. Highlight Greenwho resigned in June to take a job in the private sector.

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A special election is being held in Tennessee’s 7th Congressional District to fill the seat left vacant when Republican Rep. Mark Green resigned from the U.S. House in June to take a job in the private sector. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, file)

President Donald Trump In last year’s presidential election, the district, which is in central and western Tennessee and stretches from Kentucky to Alabama, was up by about 20 points.

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Trump’s immense political influence in the Republican nomination races was tested Tuesday in a crowded and competitive Republican Party primary. This comes after the president last week endorsed Matt Van Epp, a former commissioner of the Tennessee Department of General Services, and one of 11 names on the ballot in the Republican Party primary. Van Epp claimed victory on Tuesday.

President Donald Trump gestures as he and first lady Melania Trump board Air Force One at Naval Station Norfolk Chambers Field in Norfolk, Virginia, Sunday, Oct. 5, 2025. (Alex Brandon/AP Photo)

Republicans currently control the House 219-213, with two vacancies: the Tennessee seat and Texas’ 18th Congressional District, following the death earlier this year of Democratic Rep. Sylvester Turner.

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Newly elected Democrat Adelita Grijalva, who won a special congressional election in Arizona last month, has yet to be sworn in.