When Rep. Mark Green (R-TN) announced that he was leaving office in July, if you recall, I was livid over the news.
Green acted as though there was no way the big, beautiful bill could have been passed without him, so he came back for six months, then resigned his seat, forcing a special election.
At the time, I stated that my fear was a lack of voter turnout to fill his seat and that this would be a real threat to the GOP’s majority. Well, the controversial Democrat just pulled within two points of the Republican in the race to replace Green.
Green, in announcing that he was leaving office for the private sector, stated, “To my constituents across Tennessee’s 7th District -- thank you. The trust you put in me is humbling. I will look back fondly on my years of serving as your voice in Washington.”
He later posted a video on X, stating, “While I cannot give the details here, I will be doing something specifically designed to help America compete against the CCP [Chinese Communist Party], but this time in business.”
This was selfish solely because Green wanted to make sure he was part of this legislation, nothing more.
This means a special election during an off time of the year when the GOP was already hurting in polling. He put that seat at risk with this resignation. And don’t be fooled by his announcement. He is doing this because he is cashing in big league.
Democrat congressional hopeful Aftyn Behn has been slowly but surely climbing in polling as Tennessee continues to gain traction on the left side of the aisle.
Behn had a bit of controversy hit last week when an old video popped up online of her claiming she hated Nashville and country music.
The candidate was doing a podcast, and she stated, "I hate the city, I hate the bachelorettes, 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.”
One would think that would hurt her in polls, but it seems to have done the opposite, as she is now only two points back, according to a recent survey.
Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN) is now worried that the GOP could lose this seat, which would end any cushion that Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) now has in the House. That, of course, is a problem because of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s (R-GA) resignation and the constant resistance by Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY).
Burchett stated, “I’m very concerned about it. Of course, it’s an off-year election. It’s right after Thanksgiving. A lot of the Republicans are out of town. And I worry about them showing up on Election Day.”
The election is on Tuesday, and if the GOP does not show up in force, Tennessee will elect a woman to Congress who has already stated she hates the district she would be representing, which is just utterly baffling to me. Even more importantly, this is a huge red flag for what will take place in the 2026 midterms. If we lose this seat, I just cannot imagine how many we will lose in the midterms.
What else bothers me here is that, once again, we have seen very little effort by the RNC or anyone in this administration to rally voters behind Matt Van Epps, the GOP candidate. Right now, the RNC is an absolute disgrace in terms of these off-season elections. These are Trump's people, so he'd better get them moving. And if we lose this seat, I can tell you right now I will be pointing the finger at Green, Trump, and Joe Gruters, who was hand-picked by Trump to rake over the RNC in August.
