Tariff politics and rural economic pressure are reshaping how “red” terrain behaves.
Creative redistricting can accidentally generate competitive races in places designed to be uncompetitive.
Outside groups and misinformation tactics often reveal more about a race’s fragility than any poll does.
All eyes are on the special congressional election in Tennessee tonight where Democrats are hoping to score a huge upset in the 7th District — where Trump won by over 20 points last year. Lincoln Square Executive Editor Susan Demas invited longtime Tennessee political reporter Ben Hall of Newschannel 5 to break down the race, the issues, and the candidates.
Trump-backed Republican Matt Van Epps is running neck and neck with Democratic state Rep. Aftyn Behn in some polling and affordability looms large in the election. The candidates aren’t just competing on ideology; they’re navigating the consequences of a map drawn to contain dissent and a national climate that refuses to cooperate. When one side leans entirely on presidential power and the other leans entirely on frustration with the status quo, the ground becomes a testing site for whether voters still respond to familiar cues. Even the tariff tension in farming communities reads less like an anecdote and more like an early indicator of where economic pressure is beginning to bend political loyalties.
Tune in to this urgent conversation about a race that shouldn’t be close, but absolutely is.
Democracy & Disinformation: The View from Tennessee
Like most states in the South, Tennessee is ruby red with a heavily Republican legislature. But back in 2023 — before Donald Trump became president again — the Atlantic published a piece, “Is Tennessee a Democracy?”
