Tennessee is a warning for the GOP
Matt Van Epps won, and yet...
Former Army helicopter pilot Matt Van Epps bucked the recent trend of right-wing electoral disasters on Tuesday, defeating Democratic state Rep. Aftyn Behn in the special House election for my district, Tennessee‘s 7th Congressional District, after Rep. Mark Green (R-TN) announced his resignation this summer.
Amid the bizarre pattern of nationalizing local politics, middle Tennessee found itself the latest center of attention on the national political stage. Outside of bachelorette parties, country music, and having one of the worst NFL teams in the league, Nashville is not used to that kind of scrutiny.
While Van Epps won by almost 16,000 votes, it was far from a win for the Republican Party. Why? After all, a Republican just won after the GOP stared down losses, both electoral and policy-based, in Virginia, New Jersey, and California. Surely a victory is something to celebrate?
Well, unfortunately, Van Epps only won by single digits against. a candidate who said she “hates Nashville” in a supposedly deep-red district in a deep-red state that President Donald Trump won by 22 points just over a year ago.
Read the rest of my latest column for Washington Examiner here.