Kyle Cave
Staff Writer
On Tuesday, December 2, Tennessee held a Special Election for its 7th Congressional District. Republican Representative Mark Green, who represented the district, resigned this past July leaving the seat open.
Last year, during the 2024 Presidential Election, Trump won this district by 22 points. Representative Green won by a similar margin. This should have been a safe and easy win for Republicans, given how much Trump and Green won. Then Aftyn Behn threw a curveball at them.
One of the issues Trump and the Republicans ran on last year was the issue of affordability. Since Trump took office almost one year ago, the economy in large has been weakening, and inflation shows no signs of cooling.
This is due to many different factors, but one of the major factors as to why the economy is showing no signs of improving is because of the tariffs the Trump administration has placed on many countries and products across the board.
The administration’s response to the affordability issue has been mostly disregard or blame-shifting. Trump has called the issue of affordability “A Democrat hoax.” Trump also falsely claims that grocery prices and inflation are down. Trump’s approval ratings are some of the lowest they have ever been, ever lower than they were when he left office the first time after January 6th.
This has given Democrats a big opening. In early November, we saw a blue wave in New York, New Jersey and Virginia. This is largely due to Democrats picking up the pieces with messaging. Candidates like Zohran Mamdani ran campaigns focused on affordability and the cost of living.
Aftyn Behn has campaigned on that very same formula. Behn ran a grassroots campaign focused on the cost of living and affordability. As a result of that, Behn took a 22-point Republican region and cut it down.
The Republican in the race, Matt Van Epps, did win the Tennessee race, but only by 8 points. Van Epps got 53.9% of the vote while Aftyn Behn got 45.0% of the vote. A massive underperformance by the Republican in a safe red district.
The message of affordability was even being repeated towards the end of the race by Van Epps. Showing just how important it is and how much it is now deciding elections.
Affordability was not being mentioned by Van Epps until Behn’s popularity and Democratic momentum started showing in the polls.
This entire election is a wake-up call for Republicans. For ten years, Republicans have embraced Donald Trump as the leader of the Republican Party. Now, Trump is becoming a thorn in their side.
Trump is essentially a lame duck president. He is unable to run again in the next presidential election, and the MAGA base has been slowly fracturing for a multitude of reasons — reasons such as the Jeffrey Epstein files, foreign policy, and the economy.
Both Democrats and Republicans are going through a crisis of identity. Democrats are trying to figure out if they want to embrace the progressive side of the party or stay more moderate.
Meanwhile, Republicans are realizing the MAGA momentum they have built up over the past decade is slowly fizzling out, and they don’t have an alternative.
Of course, it is normal in midterm elections for the party in power to lose seats. But every single poll from every pollster shows Trump and the Republicans down with most issues, including the economy, where Republicans have historically polled better. When you are only one year into a presidency and you and your party have low polling, that is not a good sign for the future.
Tennessee’s election and the November elections show the beginning of the potential end of MAGA. If Republicans refuse to see the rising frustration Americans have with the economy, tariffs, and other issues, they are doomed to fail.
The big question now after this election is this. Will Republicans eventually distance themselves from Trump and MAGA, or will they ride it into the sunset?