Matt Van Epps
Matt Van Epps is an officeholder of the Tennessee Commissioner Department of General Services.
Van Epps (Republican Party) is running in a special election to the U.S. House to represent Tennessee's 7th Congressional District. He is on the ballot in the special general election on December 2, 2025. He advanced from the special Republican primary on October 7, 2025.
Van Epps is also running for election to the U.S. House to represent Tennessee's 7th Congressional District. He declared candidacy for the 2026 election.[source]
Elections
2026
See also: Tennessee's 7th Congressional District election, 2026
General election
The general election will occur on November 3, 2026.
General election for U.S. House Tennessee District 7
The following candidates are running in the general election for U.S. House Tennessee District 7 on November 3, 2026.
Candidate | ||
| Aftyn Behn (D) | ||
| David Jones (D) | ||
| Jason Knight (R) | ||
| Stewart Parks (R) | ||
| Jay Reedy (R) | ||
| Matt Van Epps (R) | ||
| Jonathan Thorp (Independent) | ||
= 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. | ||||
Endorsements
Ballotpedia is gathering information about candidate endorsements. To send us an endorsement, click here.
2025
See also: Tennessee's 7th Congressional District special election, 2025
Tennessee's 7th Congressional District special election, 2025 (October 7 Democratic primary)
Tennessee's 7th Congressional District special election, 2025 (October 7 Republican primary)
General election
Special general election for U.S. House Tennessee District 7
The following candidates are running in the special general election for U.S. House Tennessee District 7 on December 2, 2025.
Candidate | ||
| Aftyn Behn (D) | ||
| Matt Van Epps (R) | ||
| Teresa Christie (Independent) | ||
| Bobby Dodge (Independent) | ||
| Robert James Sutherby (Independent) | ||
Jonathan Thorp (Independent) ![]() | ||
= 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
- 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 | 8,648 | |
Darden Copeland ![]() | 24.9 | 7,716 | ||
| Bo Mitchell | 24.2 | 7,492 | ||
Vincent Dixie ![]() | 23.1 | 7,146 | ||
| Total votes: 31,002 | ||||
= 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
- 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 | 19,001 | |
| Jody Barrett | 25.3 | 9,335 | ||
| Gino Bulso | 10.9 | 4,004 | ||
| 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: 36,854 | ||||
= 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)
- Robby Moore (R)
- Brandon Ogles (R)
- Eddie Lee Murphy (R)
- John Wilt (R)
- John Wesley Smith IV (R)
- Michael Vogel (R)
- Noah Cline (R)
Endorsements
Van Epps received the following endorsements. To send us additional endorsements, click here.
- President Donald Trump (R)
- Stewart County Mayor Robert Beecham
- Cheatham County Mayor Kerry McCarver
- District Attorney Robert Nash
- Dickson County Mayor Bob Rial
- Frmr. Rep. Mark Green (R)
Campaign themes
2026
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Matt Van Epps has not yet completed Ballotpedia's 2026 Candidate Connection survey. Send a message to Matt Van Epps asking him to fill out the survey. If you are Matt Van Epps, click here to fill out Ballotpedia's 2026 Candidate Connection survey.
Who fills out Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey?
Any candidate running for elected office, at any level, can complete Ballotpedia's Candidate Survey. Completing the survey will update the candidate's Ballotpedia profile, letting voters know who they are and what they stand for. More than 23,000 candidates have taken Ballotpedia's candidate survey since we launched it in 2015. Learn more about the survey here.
You can ask Matt Van Epps to fill out this survey by using the buttons below or emailing alex@mattfortn.com.
2025
Matt Van Epps has not yet completed Ballotpedia's 2025 Candidate Connection survey. Send a message to Matt Van Epps asking him to fill out the survey. If you are Matt Van Epps, click here to fill out Ballotpedia's 2025 Candidate Connection survey.
Who fills out Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey?
Any candidate running for elected office, at any level, can complete Ballotpedia's Candidate Survey. Completing the survey will update the candidate's Ballotpedia profile, letting voters know who they are and what they stand for. More than 23,000 candidates have taken Ballotpedia's candidate survey since we launched it in 2015. Learn more about the survey here.
You can ask Matt Van Epps to fill out this survey by using the buttons below or emailing alex@mattfortn.com.
Campaign finance summary
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
See also
2025 Elections
External links
Footnotes
= candidate completed the 

