Can Aftyn Behn Pull Off A Stunning Upset In TN-07?

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If you’d asked me a few months ago about the prospect of a Democrat winning in TN-07, a place where Trump won by 22 last year, I’d have said you were crazy and that it just wasn’t possible. But here we are, with Aftyn Behn behind by just 2 points in a poll from respected pollster Emerson College.

Source: The Nation

In the suburban and rural counties around Nashville, Tennessee, drivers passing under the bridges above area highways are witnessing a new phenomenon: “bridge brigades” holding aloft American flags, cheering, and pointing to brightly lit signs urging “Vote Aftyn.”

What’s striking is that “Aftyn” is a Democrat—State Representative Aftyn Behn—who is running what looks to be a competitive race for an open congressional seat in a historically Republican and, more recently, pro-Trump district.

Republicans have taken a beating recently, what with the sweeping rejection of Republican candidates in the November 4 off-year elections for the governorships of New Jersey and Virginia, along with victories for Democrats in three Pennsylvania State Supreme Court seats, state and local posts in Georgia, legislative seats in Mississippi, and so many other contests around the country. But if Behn, a 36-year-old former community organizer, can win the special election in Tennessee’s Seventh Congressional District on December 2, she might pull off the biggest upset of the year. That’s because, unlike Democrats in some of the other marquee 2025 contests, she’s fighting to flip a seat where the party has not been competitive for a long time.

And fresh data suggests she’s within range of a win. Emerson College Polling, one of the most respected survey research groups in the country, released a poll Wednesday morning that has Behn at 46 percent, versus 48 percent for corporate Republican Matt Van Epps.

Spencer Kimball of Emerson College Polling explained where she’s getting her support:

“The special election in Tennessee’s 7th District will come down to what groups are motivated to turnout on election day, and who stays home,” Spencer Kimball, executive director of Emerson College Polling, said. “Those who report voting early break for Behn, 56% to 42%, whereas those who plan to vote on Election Day break for Van Epps, 51% to 39%. Voters under 40 are Behn’s strongest group, 64% of whom support her, while Van Epps’ vote increases with age, to 61% of those over 70.”

“There is also a stark gender divide; men break for Van Epps by nine points, 51% to 42%, whereas women break for Behn by six, 50% to 44%,” Kimball added.

The DNC are believers and have been for a while. They’re pouring in over a million in support and phone banking for Aftyn.

On Wednesday.

That haters on Fox News have gone apoplectic at the thought of a Democrat winning in that district, calling Aftyn “a crazy left-wing radical.”