A Tennessee special election that polls show could potentially flip a GOP stronghold has Republicans scrambling, including Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN), who took to Fox News on Tuesday to beg GOP voters to get out the vote.
“We’ve already got people leaving, talks of others leaving… this is the proverbial canary in the cave!” Burchett said, speaking with Fox News’ Bill Hemmer. “If Matt Van Epps – a qualified candidate [in] a district that [President Donald] Trump won by over 15 points – can’t carry this thing, we’re in trouble. Republicans are asleep at the switch!”
The special election will decide who represents Tennessee’s 7th Congressional District, left vacant in July after its previous holder, Mark Green, resigned. Trump won the district by 22 points last year, though recent polling suggests that Epps’ Democratic opponent – Tennessee state Rep. Aftyn Behn – has at least a 15% chance at victory.
As to why the race that Trump carried by double digits was so close, Burchett gave several explanations: the weather, and the fact that the contest was an off-year special election, elections that typically see lower turnout.
“We pay attention to presidents – President Trump is a great president, we should be paying attention to him – but when it gets down to the other races, we forget about it,” Burchett said. “It should not even be a race! This lady is a Marxist, and she’s not even a friendly Marxist like [Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY)]!”
Trump has backed Epps in the race, and has promoted the GOP candidate several times in phone calls and social media posts in what some critics have labeled a “sign of complete political collapse.”
As for Behn, Burchett railed against the Democratic candidate as a “Marxist” who could go on to become the most far-left member of Congress.
“She will fit perfectly in Congress because this gutless bunch up here can’t pull water out of a boot if you had the instructions written on the heel!” Burchett said.
“She is clearly the far-left’s dream girl; she doesn’t say anything and she will vote so far to the left that she will make AOC look like she subscribes to the National Review. It’s a pathetic situation, brother – we’ve got to wake up.”
Congressman @RepTimBurchett sounds the alarm over the TN D7 race as Dem candidate @aftynfortn closes in on Trump-backed @MattForTN. “If Matt Van Epps can’t carry this thing, we’re in trouble – Republicans are asleep at the switch!” pic.twitter.com/zWfLaX8GHT — Alexander Willis (@ReporterWillis) December 2, 2025
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