What to watch for in the Tennessee state election
The results of the Tennessee state election could show how well Republicans can do in the midterm elections.
WASHINGTON – Former Vice President Al Gore made a rare return to the campaign trail with an impassioned appeal to Tennesseans to vote for Democrat Aftin Behn in Tennessee’s 7th Congressional special election.
“I’ve never seen political trends change so quickly and so dramatically as they have in this election,” said Gore, a former senator from Tennessee, as Mr. Behn looks to score a landslide victory in the race against Republican Matt Van Epps in a solidly red district.
“I think the reasons are clear,” Gore said at a virtual rally for Behn on the eve of the Dec. 2 election. “It’s unbelievable because while Tennesseans are seeing rising food prices and rising health care costs, Donald Trump is building golden banquet halls and lining his own pockets. It’s unbelievable. This is the most corrupt administration in history.”
President Donald Trump won Tennessee’s 7th Congressional District, which includes 14 Middle Tennessee counties and part of Nashville, by a 22 percentage point margin in the 2024 election. But the Democratic Party’s strength as a minority party, combined with President Trump’s slumping poll numbers, made Van Epps’ race to replace retiring Rep. Mark Greene (R-Tenn.) a close one. In an effort to avert disaster, President Trump jumped into the campaign trail urging his supporters to vote for Van Epps.
Gore, who famously lost his home state of Tennessee in the 2000 presidential election, said Congressional Republicans were “enabling” Trump’s “reckless and dangerous” actions.
“We already have too many despicable cowards in Congress, and the last thing we need is another coward in Congress,” Gore said. “Your vote in this election can send not just a message, but a shockwave that truly changes the direction of our country.”
New York Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a national star for progressives, also tripped over Mr. Behn during a virtual rally. Behn welcomed the support, even though Republicans have tried to paint her as far left and labeled her “Tennessee AOC.”
“The very fact that we’re here today and this race is so close is a testament to how the American people are feeling at this moment,” Ocasio-Cortez said. “I truly believe that we are at a time when people are recognizing more and more that our struggle is not between left and right, but between top and bottom. It’s about all of us as working Americans.”
Mr. Gore has stepped back from electoral politics since losing the 2000 election to former President George W. Bush, declining to attend the last two in-person Democratic National Conventions in 2024 and 2016. Instead, Gore has become a global environmental leader in the fight against climate change.
“You know, Tennessee has done things like this before, when the spotlight of history was on us,” Gore said, pointing to Tennessee’s securing the final vote to ratify the 19th Amendment, giving women the right to vote, and the Volunteer State’s role in the civil rights movement. “Tennessee has proven time and time again that we can answer the call of democracy.
“If you elect Mr. Aftin, you will be able to say with your vote that you helped put this country back on the right track,” Gore said.
X Contact Joey Garrison at @joeygarrison.
