MAGA Republican Matt Van Epps has defeated Democrat state Representative Aftyn Behn in the Tennessee 7th District special election, Cook Political Report’s Dave Wasserman projects.
It will not be a comfortable margin. Single digits, maybe as low as +3 in a race that should never have been close until the GOP started slamming the panic button a few weeks ago. All that hype and now the spotlight’s on the margin and Behn’s massive overperformance above a Trump +22 district baseline. Mike Johnson and his minions will sleep just a little tiny bit less uneasily tonight.