Trump-backed Matt Van Epps wins Tennessee GOP congressional primary

President Donald Trump’s political muscle in republican appointment races was fully exposed on Tuesday as a candidate he approved last week won a primary on the crowded and competitive GOP election for a vacant Congress seat in Tennessee.

Matt Van Epps, supported by Trump, a former commissioner of the Tennessee General Services Department, came out in the lead in a field of 11 Republican candidates vocally to fill out the headquarters of the 7th District of the Firmly Red Congress of the State, according to the Associated Press.

Van Epps will now be the favorite of the general elections of December 2 of the race to succeed the former republican representative Mark Green, who resigned from his functions in June to occupy a job of the private sector.

Trump approval by Van Epps in an area which also included representatives of the Jody Barrett State, Gino Bulso and Lee Reeves, shaped the result of the primary battle even if the president’s support came after the early vote in the competition.

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President Donald Trump is making gestures as he gets on the Air Force One with First Lady Melania Trump at the Naval Station of Norfolk Chambers Field in Norfolk, Virginia, Sunday, October 5, 2025. (Alex Brandon / AP Photo)

The race among the main GOP contenders has turned into a loyalty test towards Trump, and with the approval of the president, Reeves suspended his campaign and supported Van Epps.

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“Matt knows the wisdom and courage necessary to defend our country, support our incredible soldiers / veterans and ensure peace by force,” said Trump in his declaration of approval.

Van Epps, who was also approved by Governor Green and Republican Bill Lee, described Trump’s support “an incredible honor”.

Republican candidate Matt Van Epps was approved last week by President Donald Trump, before the GOP primary on Tuesday during a special election in the 7th district of the Tennessee Congress. (Thanks to the Matt van Epps campaign)

And on Monday evening, on the eve of the primary, the president joined Van Epps for a tele-ray who was co-organized by the outside conservative of the Group for Growth, who also supported Van Epps.

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Trump carried the district, which is located in the center and west of Tennessee and extends from Kentucky to Alabama, about 20 points in the presidential election last year.

A special election takes place in the 7th district of the Tennessee Congress to fill the seat left vacant when the republican representative Mark Green resigned from the American house in June to take a job in the private sector. (J. Scott Applewhite, File / AP Photo)

Van Epps, lieutenant-colonel of the National Guard of the Tennessee Army and former army helicopter pilot, was also supported by the republican representative of the Jim Jordan Chamber of Ohio.

But Barrett, who presented that he is the “representative of the most conservative state in the history of Tennessee”, had the support of the political branch of the House Freedom Caucus, who passed heavily in the primary race.

State representative Jody Barrett, republican candidate for the Tennessee special electoral campaign in the 7th district of the State Congress, expressed during a political forum on Monday, September 8, 2025. (Photo George Walker IV / AP)

Four great democrats arose for the appointment of their party. They were representatives of the state Vincent Dixie, Aftyn Behn, Bo Mitchell and the businessman Darden Copeland.

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The Republicans are currently controlling Chamber 219-213, with two vacant posts: the headquarters in Tennessee and Texas 18th District of the Congress, after the death earlier this year of Democratic Representative Sylvester Turner.

The democratic representative elected Adelita Grijalva, who won a special election of the Congress in Arizona last month, has not yet sworn.