Bobby Dodge
Bobby Dodge (independent) ran in a special election to the U.S. House to represent Tennessee's 7th Congressional District. Dodge lost in the special general election on December 2, 2025.
2025 battleground election
Ballotpedia identified the December 2, 2025, special election as a battleground election. The summary below is from our coverage of this election, found here.
Matt Van Epps (R) won the special election for Tennessee's 7th Congressional District on December 2, 2025. Click here for detailed election results.
Van Epps, Aftyn Behn (D), and four independent candidates ran in the election. The special election filled the vacancy created when the former incumbent, Rep. Mark Green (R), resigned on July 20, 2025.[1]
Before the election, the Tennessee Lookout's Sam Stockard wrote, "The special election for Tennessee’s 7th Congressional District seat is shaping up as a classic conservative-liberal battle that pits urban versus rural voters in a heavily red region."[2] According to The Tennessean's Austin Hornbostel and Vivian Jones, Republicans had represented the district since 1983, "but new district boundaries drawn by the Republican-controlled state legislature in 2021 moved the district into northern Nashville and added a significant Democrat population."[3]
Van Epps was a Tennessee Army National Guard lieutenant colonel and a special operations helicopter pilot. He served as commissioner of the Tennessee Department of General Services and as deputy chief operating officer in the governor's office.[4] He earned his bachelor's degree in political science and mechanical engineering from West Point and his master's degree in public administration from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.[5]
Van Epps' campaign website said he would bring "conservative leadership grounded in service, experience, and unwavering commitment to Tennessee values and President Trump's America First agenda."[6] President Donald Trump (R) endorsed Van Epps days before the primary election.[7] Van Epps said, "Together, we will bring down the cost of living, keep our families and communities safe, lower the cost of prescription drugs and healthcare, deport criminal illegals, and get our veterans the care and support they've earned."[8]
Behn represented the 51st District in the Tennessee House of Representatives. She was elected in a 2023 special election and re-elected in 2024. Behn earned her bachelor's degree in psychology and her master's degree in social work from the University of Texas at Austin. She worked as a social worker and community organizer.[9]
Behn's campaign website said, "She’s now running for Congress after the so-called 'Big, Beautiful Bill' passed — a giveaway to the wealthy that codified the largest transfer of wealth from working people to the rich in American history."[10] Behn ran on her record as an activist and state representative.[11] In a campaign ad, Behn said, "As a state representative in Tennessee, I fought to eliminate Tennessee's grocery tax. In Congress, I will fight to make sure your rural hospitals and nursing homes stay open, and I will make sure that no one loses their healthcare because they can't afford it."[12]
Independents Teresa Christie, Bobby Dodge, Robert James Sutherby, and Jonathan Thorp also ran.
Heading into the election, Republicans had a 219-213 majority in the U.S. House with three vacancies. This was the sixth special congressional election in 2025, after two April elections in Florida's 1st District and 6th District, two September elections in Virginia's 11th District and Arizona's 7th District, and a November election in Texas' 18th District.
Elections
2025
See also: Tennessee's 7th Congressional District special election, 2025
Tennessee's 7th Congressional District special election, 2025 (October 7 Republican primary)
Tennessee's 7th Congressional District special election, 2025 (October 7 Democratic primary)
General election
Special general election for U.S. House Tennessee District 7
The following candidates ran in the special general election for U.S. House Tennessee District 7 on December 2, 2025.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Matt Van Epps (R) | 53.9 | 97,034 |
 | Aftyn Behn (D) | 45.1 | 81,109 | |
 | Jonathan Thorp (Independent)  | 0.5 | 932 | |
 | Teresa Christie (Independent) | 0.3 | 610 | |
| Bobby Dodge (Independent) | 0.1 | 198 | ||
 | Robert James Sutherby (Independent) | 0.1 | 129 | |
| Total votes: 180,012 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Steven Hooper (Independent)
- Scerick Richard Longcope (Independent)
- David Richard Holbert (Independent)
- Caleb Stack (Independent)
Democratic primary election
Special Democratic primary for U.S. House Tennessee District 7
Aftyn Behn defeated Darden Copeland, Bo Mitchell, and Vincent Dixie in the special Democratic primary for U.S. House Tennessee District 7 on October 7, 2025.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Aftyn Behn | 27.9 | 8,653 |
 | Darden Copeland | 24.9 | 7,720 | |
 | Bo Mitchell | 24.2 | 7,498 | |
 | Vincent Dixie | 23.1 | 7,153 | |
| Total votes: 31,024 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Joy Davis (D)
Republican primary election
Special Republican primary for U.S. House Tennessee District 7
The following candidates ran in the special Republican primary for U.S. House Tennessee District 7 on October 7, 2025.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Matt Van Epps | 51.6 | 19,006 |
 | Jody Barrett | 25.3 | 9,337 | |
 | Gino Bulso | 10.9 | 4,005 | |
 | Lee Reeves | 5.2 | 1,929 | |
 | Mason Foley | 2.8 | 1,022 | |
 | Stewart Parks | 1.6 | 595 | |
 | Jason Knight | 1.0 | 381 | |
 | Stuart Cooper (Unofficially withdrew) | 0.6 | 239 | |
 | Tres Wittum | 0.4 | 133 | |
 | Joe Leurs | 0.3 | 122 | |
 | Adolph Agbéko Dagan | 0.3 | 93 | |
| Total votes: 36,862 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Robert James Sutherby (R)
- Brandon Ogles (R)
- Eddie Lee Murphy (R)
- John Wilt (R)
- John Wesley Smith IV (R)
- Michael Vogel (R)
- Noah Cline (R)
- Robby Moore (R)
Polls
- See also: Ballotpedia's approach to covering polls
We provide results for polls from a wide variety of sources, including media outlets, social media, campaigns, and aggregation websites, when available. No polls were available for this election. To notify us of polls published in this election, please email us.
Election campaign finance
| Name | Party | Receipts* | Disbursements** | Cash on hand | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aftyn Behn | Democratic Party | $1,230,629 | $708,892 | $521,737 | As of November 12, 2025 |
| Matt Van Epps | Republican Party | $992,716 | $761,549 | $231,167 | As of November 12, 2025 |
|
Source: Federal Elections Commission, "Campaign finance data," 2025. This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
* According to the FEC, "Receipts are anything of value (money, goods, services or property) received by a political committee." |
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Satellite spending
- See also: Satellite spending
Satellite spending describes political spending not controlled by candidates or their campaigns; that is, any political expenditures made by groups or individuals that are not directly affiliated with a candidate. This includes spending by political party committees, super PACs, trade associations, and 501(c)(4) nonprofit groups.[13][14][15]
If available, this section includes links to online resources tracking satellite spending in this election. To notify us of a resource to add, email us.
| By candidate | By election |
|---|---|
Endorsements
Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Dodge in this election.
Campaign themes
2025
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Bobby Dodge did not complete Ballotpedia's 2025 Candidate Connection survey.
Campaign finance summary
Ballotpedia currently provides campaign finance data for all federal- and state-level candidates from 2020 and later. We are continuously working to expand our data to include prior elections. That information will be published here as we acquire it. If you would like to help us provide this data, please consider donating to Ballotpedia.
See also
2025 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ The Tennessean, "US Rep. Mark Green will step down July 20. Who could replace him?" July 8, 2025
- ↑ Tennessee Lookout, "Behn works to counter Trump endorsement of Van Epps in Tennessee’s Congressional District 7," October 22, 2025
- ↑ The Tennessean, "Behn, Van Epps to face off in special election for Tennessee's 7th Congressional District," October 8, 2025
- ↑ Matt Van Epps 2025 campaign website, "Meet Matt," accessed October 29, 2025
- ↑ Linkedin, "Matt Van Epps, MPA," accessed October 29, 2025
- ↑ Matt Van Epps 2025 campaign website, "Issues," accessed October 29, 2025
- ↑ Clarksville Now, "UPDATE: Congress candidate Matt Van Epps endorsed by Trump: ‘HE WILL NEVER LET YOU DOWN!’," October 3, 2025
- ↑ WZTV Nashville, "Democratic candidate Aftyn Behn and GOP candidate Matt Van Epps lay out visions for Tenn.," October 8, 2025
- ↑ Tennessee General Assembly, "Representative Aftyn Behn," accessed October 29, 2025
- ↑ Aftyn Behn 2025 campaign website, "Home," accessed October 29, 2025
- ↑ The Behn Factor, "Why We Need to Send an Organizer to Congress," August 7, 2025
- ↑ [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QS6WGAVw43s YouTube, " I'm Aftyn Behn and I'm running for Congress." July 9, 2025]
- ↑ OpenSecrets.org, "Outside Spending," accessed December 12, 2021
- ↑ OpenSecrets.org, "Total Outside Spending by Election Cycle, All Groups," accessed December 12, 2021
- ↑ National Review.com, "Why the Media Hate Super PACs," December 12, 2021
