Republican Matt Van Epps is one step closer to the halls of Congress after winning the GOP nomination to replace former Tennessee GOP Rep. Mark Green in the House on Tuesday.
The Associated Press called the race for Van Epps at 8:40 p.m., 40 minutes after polls closed. Van Epps defeated nine other candidates in the primary with 42.3%. His closest competitor was state Rep. Jody Barrett, who received 26.3%.
Van Epps will advance to the general election on Dec. 2, where he is all but assured to win thanks to the 7th Congressional District’s safe Republican leaning.
The Army veteran and former commissioner of Tennessee’s Department of General Services’s victory was a testament to the strength of President Donald Trump’s endorsement, which pushed two of Van Epps’s original 11 competitors to withdraw and throw their support behind him.
Barrett had the backing of House Freedom Fund, which has endorsed and supported many conservative House Freedom Caucus members in Washington. But Barrett had drawn ire from school choice groups after he voted against Gov. Bill Lee’s (R-TN) school voucher expansion.
Trump had joined a tele-rally on Monday night with Club For Growth PAC supporters and made a final endorsement push on Truth Social on Tuesday morning.
TENNESSEE GOP PRIMARY TO REPLACE MARK GREEN TESTS STRENGTH OF TRUMP ENDORSEMENT
If Van Epps wins the general election, his victory will bolster the House GOP’s majority. Currently, Speaker Mike Johnson’s (R-LA) majority sits at two seats. With a Nov. 4 special election in Texas likely to yield a Democrat victor, the majority is expected to narrow to just one seat.
Van Epps’s victory in December will push the majority back to two seats, giving Johnson slight breathing room heading into the 2026 midterm cycle. With contentious legislation, every vote counts, and Johnson’s speakership has been plagued by revolt from fiscal hawks and other conservatives on his right flank.
