Republican Matt Van Epps has won a special election in Tennessee for a seat in the U.S. House. Van Epps was backed by President Donald Trump.

Their winning margin has been much-reduced, after a contest that was seen as a test of Donald Trump's popularity.

Van Epps defeated Democrat Aftyn Behn, NBC News projects, after an expensive campaign to replace former Rep. Mark Green.

One political analysts says the results are a “very, very bad omen for Republicans and a very, very good omen for Democrats."

Republican Matt Van Epps won the Tennessee 7th Congressional special election, but Aftyn Behn's overperformance has Democrats celebrating, too, and sets up an affordability focus in the 2026 midterms.

On Feb 6, 2022, Tennessee's current congressional map went into effect, redrawing District 7. Districts 4, 5 and 6 were redrawn to split up Davidson, Williamson and Wilson counties. Nashville, historically a Democratic stronghold, was then broken up into three congressional districts.

Republicans should take the results from the Dec. 2 Tennessee special election as a “big warning sign,” Gov. Ron DeSantis says.

Voters in Tennessee elected Republican Matt Van Epps to fill a vacant U.S. House of Representatives seat, U.S. media outlets projected on Tuesday, padding the narrow lead by President Donald Trump's party in the chamber heading into next year's midterm elections.

Democratic Congressional Candidate Aftyn Behn took the stage at her campaign gathering after losing the Tennessee special election to Republican candidate Van Epps.