U.S. House Special Election in Tennessee

Tennessee held a special election for the seventh congressional district today. The race drew national attention as both parties test their messaging campaigns ahead of the midterm elections. Our Washington correspondent Luis Martinez has more on the story. >> The Democrats are spending millions of dollars here. They're bringing in all their heavy hitters because they think they can flip this seat from red to blue. That is not going to happen. Matt Vaneps is the candidate the best to represent Tennessee and and Nashville in Washington DC. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson campaigned with Republican candidate Matt Vaneps ahead of today's special election. Van Eps is a West Point graduate and a combat veteran from both Iraq and Afghanistan war. Vaneps ran on an America first platform. >> He's fantastic and go get him and get out tomorrow morning. Get out and vote and let's make it a sweeping victory. The whole world is watching Tennessee right now and they're watching your district. The whole world. It's a big vote. It's going to show something and it's got to show that the Republican party is stronger than it's ever been. We have a bigger, stronger party than we've ever had. >> This is about America first. As the speaker said, the margins um in in Congress are so are so narrow and this is about the direction we want to move our country and we want to move it in the America first direction. That's what we're going to do. Democratic candidate Afton Bent, who serves in the Tennessee House of Representatives since 2023, had former Vice President Camel Harris and Democratic Congresswoman Alexandria Cascortez, Jasmine Crockett, and Democratic Congressman Eric Swallwell campaign with her in recent weeks. >> Um, I've been very grateful for the national support in this race. Tennessee is often a state that is overlooked and disinvested in. Um and to see national surrogates and national supporters um providing uh monetary support and and jumping in, it really means a lot to all of us. We welcome it all. >> Democratic candidate Afton Ben supports expanded healthcare access and ran on an affordability platform but is under fire for comments that resurfaced that she made on the city that she hopes to represent. >> I hate the city. I hate the bachelorettees. I hate the pedal taverns. I hate country music. I hate all of the things that make Nashville apparently. an it city to the rest of the country, but I hate it. >> She has also come under fire for comments she made in reference to motherhood. >> My therapist always asks me to to transcribe my dreams when they happen. And the recurring dream I've had is standing up in a cafeteria full of women and saying, "I don't want children. I want power." According to recent polls, Republican candidate Matt Vaneps is expected to win Tennessee special election to fill the seat that Republican Congressman Mark Green left open when he retired earlier this year. Reporting from Washington DC, Luis Aluardo Martinez, NTD News.