Well, now it’s a waiting game, and I am guessing we may not have to wait very long for the results. Polls close at 8 pm.
Commenter PAM Dirac shared this in a comment a little while ago.
VoteHub has put out their total turnout estimate for TN-07. (On the evil site so no link). They characterize the election day turnout as “relatively high” which, at least historically favors the Rs. I guess turning that into result predictions is pretty iffy given sparse polling and the fact that Tenn doesn’t have partisan registration, but I suspect it means if Behn gets the average swing Ds have been getting this year it means the result will be the widely expected 5-7 point D loss. Will be interesting to see how the actual votes go.
Live election results
I like the framing in this title.
(AP News) Tennessee voters make final call in House special election testing Trump’s power
The 7th District is one of three seats redrawn in 2022 to erode the influence of Nashville, the state’s largest city and a Democratic stronghold. Only about 1 in 5 of its registered voters are in Nashville, and last year it went to Green by 21 percentage points and to Trump by a similar margin.
Democrats say closing the gap would signal that their party has momentum going into next year. Republicans remain confident that they can defend the seat, and they hope to dismiss Democratic claims that even red districts are now in play as Trump struggles with low approval ratings and persistent economic dissatisfaction.
However there are concerns about turnout due to the timing, as early voting went into Thanksgiving week with Election Day the following Tuesday.
Trump held a virtual rally in November with Van Epps, a former state general services commissioner from Nashville who previously served as an Army helicopter pilot, to boost his candidacy.
Republicans have tried to turn Behn’s own words against her in television advertising, such as when she described herself as a “radical” or claimed to be “bullying” immigration agents and state police officers. A frequent target are comments Behn made about Nashville years ago, when she said “I hate this city” and complained about bachelorette parties.
Trump supporter Anthony Bordonaro, 37, said Tuesday that he wants the president’s policies to move forward but pointed to those anti-Nashville comments as extra motivation to vote for Van Epps.
“I just didn’t really like what I was hearing about the other candidate not liking Nashville,” he said.
For the most part, Behn has answered questions about those remarks by redirecting to cost of living issues. But she has responded specifically about Nashville, saying she wants it “to be a place where working people can thrive” even if she gets annoyed at some tourist draws.
Behn’s focus on pocketbook issues resonated with Patricia Hawkins, 74, who said she voted for the Democrat and flatly declared that Trump needs a “reality check.”
“Prices are too high,” Hawkins said. “And gas is too high. … And it’s affecting every industry.”
Behn, a self-proclaimed “pissed-off social worker,” has condemned Trump’s tariffs and tax cut legislation, both of which Van Epps supports. She also has criticized Republicans’ reluctance to release files related to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Van Epps originally opposed a House vote to force the Justice Department to disclose more Epstein documents but changed his stance to mirror Trump after the president backed the measure.
Democratic allies sought to eat away at Van Epps’ base by urging conservatives to back independent candidate Jon Thorp instead. That messaging came in mailers from Your Community PAC, which has spent more than $16 million supporting Democratic candidates across the country since last year.
TN-07 Special Election is Tonight! Awaiting ResultsPost + Comments (115)
