Franklin, Tennessee – Republican congressional nominees are running in special elections for open seats in the Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives. ruby red tennessee said he was receiving “incredible reports from across the region.”

Matt Van Epps praised “our great turnout” in an interview with Fox News Digital after greeting supporters outside polling places on Tuesday morning. “We are ahead in the early voting and we will continue to work hard to win today.”

Van Epps is facing off against Democratic candidate Aftyn Behn in the race to succeed former Republican Rep. Mark Green, who resigned in June to work in the private sector.

With Republicans retaining a slim majority in the House of Representatives, the election is seen as a Republicans must win.

Decision Day: Trump, Speaker Johnson, AOC campaign blitz on eve of crucial showdown

Republican congressional candidate Matt Van Epps greets supporters outside a polling place on Election Day on December 2, 2025 in Franklin, Tennessee. (Paul Steinhauser/Fox News)

president Donald Trump The 7th Congressional District, a district in middle and western Tennessee that stretches from Kentucky to Alabama and includes parts of Nashville, carried a 22-point margin in last year’s presidential election. Green won re-election in 2022 and 2024 by more than 20 points in the district.

But Democrats are energized after the 2025 election, with polls showing a close matchup between Van Epps and Bain, seen as a key barometer ahead of the election next year’s midterm electionswhen the Republicans will defend their majority.

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When asked by Fox News Digital if he needed to win the election by a margin, Van Epps said, “A win is a win.”

But the Army veteran and former commissioner of the Tennessee Department of General Services added, “We’re going to do everything we can to win by the biggest margin, and then we’ll have a majority in ’26.”

Democratic congressional candidate Aftin Bain speaks to supporters at the party office in Franklin, Tennessee, December 1, 2025, on the eve of the election (Paul Steinhauser/Fox News)

Bain, a state representative and former health care community organizer, has been called the “AOC of the South” compared to progressive champion Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez“No matter what happens, win or lose, you inspired a country. You showed people that the South had something to say,” he told supporters at the local Democratic Party office in Nashville on Tuesday morning.

“To me, we’ve won the hearts of a lot of people in Tennessee and across the country,” Bain told Fox News Digital minutes later when asked if she was a winner even without an election victory. “What started here changed the country.”

She added, “I think voters are turning to candidates like me who have progressive records.”

With the stakes so high, outside groups aligned with both parties spent millions of dollars on ads in the campaign. Both the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and the rival Republican National Committee (RNC) have invested resources in the showdown, including sending staff to campaign events.

Democrats and Republicans go all out for a decisive battle at the ballot box in Congress in 2025

Speaker of the House of Representatives Mike Johnson Spent the day leading up to the election with Van Epps, attending a series of rallies and stops throughout the district with the Republican nominee. He was joined by Republican National Committee Chairman Joe Gruters.

Republican congressional candidate Matt Van Epps attends a pre-election rally with House Speaker Mike Johnson on December 1, 2025 in Franklin, Tennessee. (Paul Steinhauser/Fox News)

“We’re going to win this seat, but we can’t take anything for granted,” Johnson said in a Fox News digital interview.

“Special elections are weird because a lot of people take it for granted that in a deep red district like this, the Republicans are going to automatically win. Nothing is automatic. So we’re here to help get out the vote and make sure we get this great candidate elected right,” Johnson said.

To motivate Trump’s low-propensity supporters, who typically don’t vote when the president isn’t on the ballot, Johnson stressed “we need everybody to vote.”

Before introducing Van Epps at Monday’s first rally, Johnson called Trump on his cell phone and the president spoke to the crowd for more than four minutes.

“Let’s get a landslide victory,” Trump said. “The whole world is watching Tennessee right now. They’re watching your district. The whole world. This is a big vote. It’s going to show something. It’s got to show that the Republican Party is stronger than ever.”

Later in the day, Trump participated in an evening phone rally with Van Epps.

In another sign of the importance of keeping the seat, Republican Gov. Bill Lee, Republican Sens. Marsha Blackburn and Bill Hagerty, as well as Republican congressmen from Tennessee, state Republicans and rivals who lost to Van Epps in last month’s primary, showed up to show their support.

Bain also received last-minute support from a high-profile agent.

Ocasio-Cortez; Representative. Pramila Jayapal LaTosha Brown, a Washington state senator who has chaired the Congressional Progressive Caucus for the past four years; LaTosha Brown, co-founder of the Black Voters Matter Fund, and former Vice President Al Gore, a Tennessean native, all spoke at virtual rallies ahead of the election.

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“What makes this race competitive is the fact that I’ve been to community gatherings, potlucks, funerals, weddings with voters in the 7th District, and they remember it,” Bain told Fox News Digital.

But Van Epps, speaking of his appearance with Johnson on the eve of the election, told Fox News, “I think we were at probably 10 events yesterday and he campaigned with us and the momentum was real. There was support from over 50 local leaders across the district. We built momentum from the primary and we’re going to continue to build on that.”