Tennessee special election race called ‘missed opportunity’ for Democrats

While some Democrats described Aftin Behn’s loss as a single digit 7th Tennessee The congressional district, a district President Donald Trump won by 22 points last year, was labeled an “overperformance,” and a team of Democratic researchers and analysts described the special election as a “missed opportunity” for the party.

Republican Matt Van Eps defeated Behn by about 9 percentage points on Tuesday, ending a high-profile special election to replace former Rep. Mark Green, R-Tenn. Despite the loss, Democrats said Behn’s successes in the red district — along with his November gubernatorial wins in New Jersey and Virginia — prove their party is “on the offensive.”

This is where the pro-Democratic organization Wellcome disagrees. In an October report titled “Decision to Win,” they warned fellow party members that far-left positions alienated voters. On Wednesday, they poured cold water on the echo chamber that portrayed Behn’s loss as a win.

“The goal is to win,” Liam Kerr, co-founder of Welcome, said when asked by Fox News Digital about Tennessee’s election results. “It is clear that running a far-left candidate did not put Democrats in the best position to win.”

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Aftin Behn gives a concession speech during an Election Night watch party at Marathon Music Works on December 2, 2025, in Nashville, Tennessee. (John Cherry/Getty Images)

Democrats should do so, Kerr and his colleagues argued in the “Decision to Win” report Moderate their positions on identity politics and cultural issues while embracing affordability, border security and public safety ahead of competitive midterm elections expected next year.

The Trump-backed Republican keeps a crucial congressional seat in GOP hands with his victory in the special election

“Aftyn Behn was a missed opportunitySimon Bazelon, a Wellcome research fellow and lead author of the report, said in a statement after Behn’s loss. “Republicans were unusually vulnerable, but the right message isn’t enough with the wrong track record. Democrats in red districts can’t just talk affordability and hope voters don’t notice they’re going left on everything else.”

“No matter what happened, whether you won or lost, you inspired a country. You showed people that the South has something to say,” Behn, a state representative and former health care community organizer, told supporters at a local Democratic Party office in Nashville on Tuesday morning.

“For me, we’ve already captured the hearts and minds of a lot of Tennesseans and across the country,” Behn told Fox News Digital minutes later when asked if she was a winner even without winning the election. “What starts here changes this country.”

Although Behn is running an effective affordability campaign fueled by grassroots support and a savvy social media presence, Bazelon said “Republicans will make sure voters know” if Democratic candidates don’t match their district.

In the final days of her campaign, Behn evaded accountability for her past comments, including those she called out Nashville police disbanded section, and was plagued by a resurfaced clip where she lamented that she hated Nashville.

“I hate the city, I hate single people, I hate pedal bars, I hate country music, I hate all the things that apparently make Nashville ‘special’ to the rest of the country. But I hate it,” Behn said. In podcast 2020.

“Despite a good race and significant investment, Voters in Tennessee “He knew that Aftin Behn did not share their views,” Bazelon said.

Explaining Bazelon’s criticism, Kerr told Fox News Digital that “it’s clear that her positions on immigration and crime that don’t sit well with the broad American public, let alone a red district like Tennessee’s 7th District, will come back to haunt her and make it nearly impossible for her to win.”

Republican congressional candidate Matt Van Epps celebrates with supporters after winning a special election in Tennessee’s 7th District, on December 2, 2025, in Nashville, Tennessee. (Paul Steinhauser/Fox News)

“It’s not just that she’s out of touch with the district, she’s completely out of touch with the American public on crime and immigration,” the Democratic strategist said in light of the resurfaced video of Behn “bullying” U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.

While Republicans have focused relentlessly on Behn’s past comments in the run-up to Election Day, prominent national Democrats, including former vice presidents, have focused on Behn’s past remarks. Kamala Harris And Al Gore and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., campaigned for “AOC of Tennessee.”

While Democrats succeeded in galvanizing a far-left base fed up with Trump’s sweeping agenda for a second term, Kerr said the momentum was not enough to win.

He added: “Persuasion is a way to provoke people.” “Just trying to turn out your base is not a recipe for success, so repeating what happened in November, not what happened in December, means convincing people who have supported President Trump in the past to pressure a Democrat.”

Kerr described the recipe for Democratic success in the 2026 midterm elections as nominating “conservative Democrats,” and explained that governors-elect Abigail Spanberger and Mikie Sherrill won, in part, because “it is difficult to caricature them as leftists.”

Governor-elect Mikie Sherrill, DN.J, delivers her remarks at the election night watch party at the Hilton East Brunswick on November 4, 2025, in East Brunswick, New Jersey. (Eduardo Munoz Alvarez/Getty Images)

“We need centrist Democrats to step in more forcefully to bring the party back to where the American public is, especially in red areas,” he said, calling Behn “not just a fringe candidate” but a “fringe fringe” candidate for the Democratic Party.

Going forward, Kerr said the Democratic Party’s “Achilles’ heel” will be “the myth that you can just talk about affordability and forget about your extreme, unpopular positions, and it won’t get to voters.”

While Democratic strategists at Wellcome urge candidates to return to the center in hopes of taking back the House and Senate in 2026, Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Both the Democratic National Committee and the Democratic National Committee viewed Tuesday night’s results as evidence that the party is on the “attack” — despite its loss.

“Tonight’s election results prove exactly what the DCCC has known all along — Democrats are on the offensive not just in record swing districts but in red terrain across the country. Our broad battleground shows that Democrats are ready to fight in rural areas, in Latino communities, in Trump country, and everywhere in between. House Republicans are officially on notice — Democrats take back the majority in 2026,” DCCC spokesperson Madison Andrus said in a statement.

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Meanwhile, Democratic Party Chairman Ken Martin called the win “historic and a flashing warning sign for Republicans.” Heading to the midterm elections“, by focusing her campaign on affordability.

“Democrats are very excited and are hardly holding back as we head into next year, organizing everywhere and running in elections across the country,” Martin said.

Fox News Digital’s Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.