The Tennessee Secretary of State’s office released the official timeline for the special election called by the governor to fill the vacant seat in the U.S. House of Representatives for Tennessee’s 7th Congressional District.
Governor Bill Lee issued a Writs of Election for a special election to fill the seat after retiring U.S. Rep. Mark Green (R-TN-07) officially resigned from the seat on Sunday,
On Thursday, Secretary of State Tre Hargett announced that the primary for both Democrats and Republicans in the special election will take place on Tuesday, October 7.
@GovBillLee has issued the Writs of Election, which establishes the timeline for the Special Election to fill the vacancy in the 7th Congressional District. Candidate petitions are available for pickup, and the candidate qualifying deadline is set for Aug. 12. pic.twitter.com/dMCNTszLZp
— Tre Hargett (@tnsecofstate) July 24, 2025
Early voting for the primary will run from September 17 through October 2. In order to vote in the primary, voters must be registered to vote by September 8.
The general election is scheduled for Tuesday, December 2, with early voting running from November 12 through November 26. Voters must be registered to vote by November 3 in order to participate in the general election.
Candidates seeking to enter the race for the 7th District must submit all required paperwork to the State Election Office by Tuesday, August 12 at noon.
To run for U.S. representative, candidates must be at least 25 years old and a U.S. citizen for at least 7 years. To qualify in a Tennessee primary election, candidates must also have lived in the state for the past 3 years and in the county they seek to represent for at least 1 year before the election.
Candidates must obtain an official nominating petition from their county election office and collect at least 25 signatures from registered voters in the district in order to gain ballot access.
The deadline for candidates to withdraw from the race is Friday, August 15 at noon.
As of Thursday, a total of 12 candidates have filed Federal Election Commission (FEC) paperwork declaring themselves as candidates in the race for Tennessee’s 7th Congressional District.
Former Lee administration official Matt Van Epps, State Representatives Lee Reeves (R-Franklin) and Jody Barrett (R-Dickson), Montgomery County Commissioner Jason Knight, Springfield resident Jon Thorpe, pardoned J6er Stewart Parks, and former Mitch McConnell aide Mason Foley are all seeking the Republican nomination in the race.
State Representatives Bo Mitchell (D-Nashville), Aftyn Behn (D-Nashville), Vincent Dixie (D-Nashville), and Davidson County Assistant District Attorney David Jones are seeking the Democratic nomination.
Richard Arnold Grayson has filed FEC paperwork as a Communist candidate in the race.
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
