Democrat state Rep. Aftyn Behn, running to fill the seat in Tennessee's 7th Congressional District, "doesn't just want to defund the police, she hates them," the Republican National Committee said in recent social media posts ahead of Tuesday's special election.
Behn has refused to disavow past anti-police and anti-Nashville rhetoric, even when recently pressed by CNN. She is running against Republican candidate Matt Van Epps to replace former Republican Rep. Mark Green.
"Some of your past tweets have gotten attention, including in 2020 when you posted to — and then deleted — a post that said, 'Good morning, especially to the 54% of Americans that believe burning down a police station is justified,'" CNN host Manu Raju said to Behn on Sunday.
"You appear to support a demand to 'defund the police.' Do you regret posting those comments?" he asked.
"What I've always believed is that communities need investment, to be safe," she said, adding that she "wouldn't post things like that now" as a lawmaker.
Raju then asked about comments she made during a 2020 podcast in which she sharply criticized Nashville.
"I hate the city, I hate the bachelorettes, I hate the pedal taverns, I hate country music, I hate all of the things that make Nashville apparently an 'it' city to the rest of the country. But I hate it," she said in the recording.
Behn said she was a private citizen at the time.
"Nashville is my home," she said. "Do I roll my eyes at the bachelorette parties and the pedal taverns that are blocking my access to my house? Yeah, every Nashvillean does."
The race, she said, "has always been about something bigger, about families across middle Tennessee that are getting crushed by rising prices" while "Washington politicians and billionaires argue about this type of nonsense."
Van Epps leads Behn by 2 percentage points according to the latest Emerson College poll, 49-47%, and by 8 points in Democrat internal polls from Workbench Strategies and Impact Research.
"The special election in Tennessee's 7th District will come down to what groups are motivated to turnout on Election Day, and who stays home," Spencer Kimball, executive director of Emerson College Polling, said.
"Those who report voting early break for Behn, 56% to 42%, whereas those who plan to vote on Election Day break for Van Epps, 51% to 39%. Voters under 40 are Behn's strongest group, 64% of whom support her, while Van Epps' vote increases with age, to 61% of those over 70.
"There is also a stark gender divide; men break for Van Epps by nine points, 51% to 42%, whereas women break for Behn by six, 50% to 44%," Kimball added.
Workbench surveyed 400 likely voters from Oct. 15-19 and had a margin of error of plus or minus 5.65 percentage points.
Impact surveyed 700 likely voters from Oct. 16-19 and had a margin of error of 3.7 percentage points.
President Donald Trump, who won Tennessee's 7th Congressional District by 22 percentage points over Kamala Harris in the 2024 election, on Sunday issued a forceful call to action ahead of the election, urging "America First Patriots" who have not yet voted to turn out for Van Epps.
"I am asking all America First Patriots in Tennessee's 7th Congressional District, who haven't voted yet, to please GET OUT AND VOTE on Election Day, Tuesday, December 2nd, for a phenomenal Candidate, Matt Van Epps," Trump wrote on Truth Social before departing Mar-a-Lago for his return to Washington, D.C.
"Matt is fighting against a woman who hates Christianity, will take away your guns, wants Open Borders, Transgender for everybody, men in women's sports, and openly disdains Country music."
Solange Reyner ✉
Solange Reyner is a writer and editor for Newsmax. She has more than 15 years in the journalism industry reporting and covering news, sports and politics.
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