WASHINGTON – Over twelve candidates are vying for their parties’ nominations on Tuesday to succeed in taking an open Tennessee congressional seat in the highly competitive U.S. House.
The winners of these primaries will compete in a special election on December 2, aimed at replacing the former Republican U.S. Rep. Mark Green, who stepped down in July for a career in the private sector. This election, in Tennessee’s predominantly Republican 7th Congressional District, is likely to momentarily enhance the GOP’s slight majority in the House. Meanwhile, a seat in a heavily Democratic district near Houston, Texas, will be filled in November.
The Republican primary involves 11 contenders, including state Reps. Jody Barrett, Gino Bulso, and Lee Reeves. Other notable candidates are Matt Van Epps, a former Tennessee Department of General Services Commissioner with Green’s endorsement, and Montgomery County Commissioner Jason Knight. The lineup is rounded out by Mason Foley from the healthcare business, real estate entrepreneur Stewart Parks, who gained a pardon from President Trump for his role in the January 6, 2021 U.S. Capitol events, and Tres Wittum, a former state Senate policy analyst previously unsuccessful in GOP primaries against U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn in 2024 and U.S. Rep. Andy Ogles in 2022.
State Reps. Aftyn Behn, Vincent Dixie and Bo Mitchell and businessman Darden Copeland seek the Democratic nomination.
Van Epps emerged as the top fundraiser among Republicans, gathering about $359,000 by mid-September. Reeves and Parks each raised approximately $270,000, and Barrett amassed nearly $242,000. Nevertheless, Van Epps was outspent by other candidates who contributed significant loans to their campaigns. Bulso loaned nearly $494,000, Foley provided $325,000, Reeves gave $300,000, and Parks allocated $67,000 to their respective campaigns.
In the Democratic field, Copeland led fundraising with about $335,000 in contributions and added $100,000 of his own funds. He retained most funds as of September 17. In contrast, Mitchell collected roughly $203,000 but had under half left to utilize as the campaign approached the final stages.
The 7th District, which has predominantly supported Republican candidates for over twelve years, also encompasses parts of Democratic-heavy Davidson County, home to Nashville. Nashville previously anchored a Democrat-leaning district, but in 2022, state Republicans reshaped the district boundaries, dividing Davidson County among the 7th and two nearby Republican-favoring districts.
Trump carried the 7th District in 2024 with about 60% of the vote, compared with about 38% for then-Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee. Harris received nearly 68% of the vote in the 7th District’s portion of Davidson County, which comprised about 22% of the total district vote. Trump carried each of the remaining 13 counties with at least 59% of the vote.
Montgomery County made up about 24% of the district vote in the 2024 presidential race, the largest share of any county in the district.
Green was elected twice each under the old and new district boundaries. Under the old lines, he received between 67% and 70% of the vote. He won with 60% of the vote under the current lines in 2022 and 2024. He never ran in a competitive primary under the current boundaries.
The Associated Press does not make projections and will declare a winner only when it’s determined there is no scenario that would allow the trailing candidates to close the gap. If a race has not been called, the AP will continue to cover any newsworthy developments, such as candidate concessions or declarations of victory. In doing so, the AP will make clear that it has not yet declared a winner and explain why.
In Tennessee, recounts are held only as part of a legal challenge in the courts. There are no automatic recounts, and losing candidates may not request recounts. The AP may declare a winner in a race that is subject to a recount if it can determine the lead is too large for a recount or legal challenge to change the outcome.
Here’s a look at what to expect Tuesday:
Special primary day
The special primary in Tennessee’s 7th Congressional District will be held Tuesday. Polls in the district close at 7 p.m. local time, which is 8 p.m. ET. Although Tennessee is located in two time zones, the 7th District falls entirely within the Central time zone.
What’s on the ballot?
The AP will provide vote results and declare a winner in the special congressional primary.
Who gets to vote?
Tennessee does not register voters by party, which in other states usually means that any registered voter may choose to vote in any party’s primary. A rarely enforced 1972 law says primary voters must be “affiliated with” or a “bona fide” member of a party to vote in that party’s primary, and a 2023 law requires local elections officials to post signs at polling places saying so. But those terms aren’t clearly defined. The law faced multiple legal challenges, but a federal court dismissed the complaint in 2024.
What do turnout and advance vote look like?
There were more than 469,000 registered voters in the 7th Congressional District in the August 2024 state primary. Turnout was about 7% of registered voters in the Republican U.S. House primary and about 5% in the Democratic primary. Both primaries were uncontested.
Among the 14 counties located either entirely or partly within the 7th District, about 58% of 2024 primary ballots were cast early by in-person or absentee voters.
As of Wednesday, nearly 15,000 Democratic primary ballots and nearly 16,000 Republican primary ballots had been cast before the special primary.
How long does vote-counting usually take?
In the 2024 general election, the AP first reported 7th District results at 8:03 p.m. ET from Perry County, three minutes after polls closed. The election night tabulation ended at 12:36 a.m. ET with more than 99% of total votes counted.
Are we there yet?
As of Tuesday, there will be 56 days until the Dec. 2 special election in the 7th District and 392 days until the 2026 midterm elections.
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