Federal Election Commission (FEC) reports submitted on Wednesday reveal that former Tennessee state official Matt Van Epps had about $54,000 in his campaign bank account as of October 1, just six days before he became the Republican Party nominee to represent the 7th Congressional District after receiving an endorsement from President Donald Trump.
During the same period, the FEC data shows that State Representative Aftyn Behn (D-Nashville) had just over $20,000 in cash on hand, leaving her campaign at a possible disadvantage to Van Epps, as Democrats seek to flip a district that retired U.S. Representative Mark Green (R-TN-07) won in a landslide just last year.
Van Epps’ campaign reported that its coffers held $54,297.99, with zero debts or outstanding obligations, after raising $402,005.53 since launching his campaign.
By contrast, Behn’s campaign reported $20,168.09 in its accounts, against an additional $6,946 in debt, after raising $188,159.43 over the course of her primary race.
The disparity in fundraising and cash on hand between the candidates also comes after the Van Epps campaign was supported by more than $1.3 million in spending from Republican groups outside the campaign in the primary election.
In total, almost $3.4 million in outside money was spent on the race, mostly within the Republican primary.
Behn, meanwhile, has received comparatively little spending from groups outside Tennessee, and reportedly told The Tennessean that she now hopes to receive national support as the Democrats’ nominee. The newspaper additionally reported that Behn said she would work to reform federal election laws to limit the influence of out-of-state groups if elected on December 2.
“The amount of money, I think, is a testament to the fact that the state has been bought and sold by special interests,” Behn told the outlet. “I’m a candidate who will never be bought and sold by special interests.”
While Van Epps won 49 percent of the vote in a crowded Republican primary, and Behn won her party’s nomination with just 28 percent of the vote, more Democrats turned out to vote in the primary contest than anticipated. In total, 31,002 Democrats either voted early or on Election Day.
A total of 36,854 Republicans voted in the primary, leaving the raw vote totals separated by just 5,852 ballots.
Potentially signaling a new level of Democratic enthusiasm under the Trump administration, the comparable turnout comes after Green, who retired from Congress in July, won the seat in a 22-point landslide in November 2024.
Republicans have meanwhile seemingly worked to unify after the primary campaign, with many of the primary candidates, including State Representatives Lee Reeves (R-Franklin) and Jody Barrett (R-Dickson) joining Van Epps at a Thursday event with Tennessee Republican Party chairman Scott Golden.
Spent a wonderful night burying the hatchet with Scott Golden and these conservative leaders. I commend each candidate for the race they ran, and I’m proud to share with President Trump that TN Republicans will stand together against the left. Let’s win this! #MattforTN #TN7 pic.twitter.com/799WMd85Oj
— Matt Van Epps for Congress (@MattForTN) October 17, 2025
“Spent a wonderful night burying the hatchet with Scott Golden and these conservative leaders,” wrote Van Epps in a post to X. “I commend each candidate for the race they ran, and I’m proud to share with President Trump that TN Republicans will stand together against the left. Let’s win this!”
Tennesseans in the district will cast their vote for Van Epps or Behn on December 2 in a race that has been described as a “bellwether” that will signal whether Republicans retain control of Congress during next year’s midterms.
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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Pennsylvania Daily Star and The Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Matt Van Epps Campaigns” by Matt Van Epps.
