<[link removed]>



GOP in crisis mode after Tennessee special election



Republicans' unimpressive victory in Tennessee's 7th Congressional District
Tuesday night has the party terrified, with lawmakers and strategists alike
fearing that a number of House races once viewed as safe for their party will
now be in play during the 2026 midterm elections.

Rep.-elect Matt Van Epps defeated Democratic nominee Aftyn Behn by just 9
percentage points—a massive underperformance from the 22 points by which
President Donald Trump won the district just last year. Even more worrisome for
the GOP is that the result happened with turnout more typical of a midterm than
a special election.




 



No sugar-coating it: Daily Kos needs your help. Can you chip in $5 today?
<[link removed]
On Record&addr1=&city=Cedar Knolls&state=District of Columbia&phone=>

Donate $5
<[link removed]
On Record&addr1=&city=Cedar Knolls&state=District of Columbia&phone=>

 



Put simply, this wasn’t a low-turnout election, so it’s hard for Republicans
to write it off as a fluke.

And given that Trump carried dozens of Republican-held House seats by smaller
margins than Tennessee’s 7th District, a similar Democratic overperformance in
2026 would likely cause a blue tsunami that would flip the House and could
possibly even put the Senate in play.

"This is one of the biggest flashing red light warning signs we’ve seen yet
for Republicans," Republican strategist Matt Whitlock wrote in a post on X. "If
every House district in the country shifted left by this same amount—about 15
points—we would be looking at a blue wave far worse than 2018—estimated 43
seats flipping."

GOP lawmakers are also sounding the alarm.

“I’m glad we won. But the GOP should not ignore the Virginia, New Jersey, and
Tennessee elections,” Nebraska Republican Rep. Don Bacon, who chose to retire
rather than run for reelection in his competitive district, told Politico. “We
must reach swing voters. America wants some normalcy.”

“It was dangerous," Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas said on Fox News. "We
could have lost this district because the people who showed up, many of them
are the ones that are motivated by how much they dislike President Trump."





 



No billionaire backers, no paywalls. Daily Kos news exists because of YOU, our
donor community. Now, we need your help. Please donate today.
<[link removed]
On Record&addr1=&city=Cedar Knolls&state=District of Columbia&phone=>

Click here to donate $5 today
<[link removed]
On Record&addr1=&city=Cedar Knolls&state=District of Columbia&phone=>

 



The GOP’s poor showing in Tennessee came even as Republicans spent millions in
the district to try to stave off disaster. Republicans burned through $3.5
million to try to boost Van Epps and bring down Behn. If every district Trump
carried by more than 20 points were to require the same amount of spending in
2026, Republicans would be in for a world of hurt.

For now, however, the biggest fear for Republicans is that their lawmakers are
deciding to retire rather than run for reelection. Already, an unusually large
number of Republicans have chosen to either retire or run for other offices in
2026, leaving their party to defend a number of competitive open seats,
including Bacon’s Nebraska district and others in Arizona and Michigan.

House Speaker Mike Johnson tried to rally his troops on Tuesday, saying in a
closed-door meeting with GOP House lawmakers that he thinks the party will defy
the odds and expand their majority.

And he publicly said on Wednesday that Van Epps' smaller margin of victory
isn't making him sweat.

"This doesn’t concern me at all," Johnson said. "Democrats put millions of
dollars in. They were really trying to set the scenario that there’s some sort
of wave going on. There’s not. We just proved that there’s not."

But it doesn't look like his members were buying his spin.

“Tonight is a sign that 2026 is going to be a bitch of an election cycle,” an
unnamed House Republican told Politico.

And after Johnson’s pep talk, one Republican lawmaker told Politico, regarding
Tennessee’s results, “If our victory margin is single digits, the conference
may come unhinged.”

Let the unhinging begin.



Click here to check out this story on DailyKos.com.
<[link removed]>




 



We're not asking for much



The average donation to Daily Kos has been just $9.44. These donations may
seem small, but they're a big deal to us. In fact, they are our largest source
of income. We literally couldn't do the work we do without them. Can you join
thousands of other Daily Kos readers and help us with a donation of $9.44 right
now?

Donate $9.44
<[link removed]
On Record&addr1=&city=Cedar Knolls&state=District of Columbia&phone=>



 



You received this email because you signed up for newsletters from Daily Kos.
To stop receiving this newsletter, unsubscribe
<[link removed]>
ormanage
<[link removed]
On Record&city=Cedar Knolls&state=District of Columbia&country=United
States&metadataCustom=testunsub> which newsletters you receive.