Matt Van Epps, the Republican congressional candidate in Tennessee's 7th Congressional District, defeated his Democratic opponent Aftin Ben in a special election Tuesday night.
The race was called by Dave Wasserman, senior editor and election analyst for the Cook Political Report.
Van Epps and Aftin Ben were vying for the U.S. Congressional seat left vacant by former Rep. Mark Green (R-Tenn.) because he resigned from Congress to work in the private sector.
Van Epps' victory came after he appeared on Breitbart News Daily, declaring that it was “a critical election for the balance of power in the House of Representatives, allowing Republicans to gain a majority.”
“This is a critical election for the balance of power in the House of Representatives, where Republicans can gain a majority,” Van Epps said. “You know, when you, when you look at the next few months and you see people either resigning and you know these seats are potentially in play, you look at what California is doing, it could very well come down to one vote.”
Katherine Hamilton of Breitbart News reported this is during the release of her podcast. Groats in 2020, Ben “used the term 'parents' before qualifying the term 'men and women who can give birth'”:
“I think that as an organizer and as an activist, we really have an opportunity here in this country to talk about what type of progressive politics we want to see as young women, and I think we have as birthing people, as women who can give birth – men and women who can give birth – we can maybe use this as collective bargaining, which is the basis of this book that I just started reading called The Birth Strike, and how we can really use collective bargaining when it comes down to having babies in this country,” Ben said in a podcast episode called “Pro-Life Plurality.”
Daily Wire reported that following the March 2023 shooting at The Covenant School in Nashville, Ben and her family expressed sympathy for the transgender community.
During a “candidate forum” in July 2023, Ben shared that her partner “has a trans son.” Ben added that after the shooting, and after information emerged that the shooter identified as transgender, she was “drawn into conversation with other trans organizers and activists across the state who were afraid for their lives.”
IN mail On Truth Social, President Donald Trump called on “all American Patriots in Tennessee's 7th Congressional District to GO OUT AND VOTE” for Van Epps.
