When “impossible” races become possible...

And what comes next

The whole world is watching Tennessee right now – or at least that’s what Trump said yesterday when he personally called into rallies for Matt Van Epps.

Trump isn’t wrong. The race for Tennessee’s 7th Congressional District – a seat he carried by 22 points just last year – ends tonight. As of this morning, it was statistically tied.

That’s not supposed to happen. Not in a district drawn to be R+22. Not in a seat where the previous Republican won by 22 points. Not in rural and suburban Tennessee.

But Aftyn Behn, the Democratic nominee, is making it happen anyway.

Why should you care about this race?

Because it proves exactly what Every State Blue has been saying all along: there are no truly unwinnable districts when Democrats show up, get funded, and fight.

Aftyn’s story is the story we see repeated in every state where ESB works. She’s a state representative who was elected in a 2023 special election to represent part of Nashville. She’s a former social worker and community organizer. And when Mark Green resigned his congressional seat, she decided to run – not because the numbers looked good, but because someone needed to fight for working Tennesseans.

The response from Republicans tells you everything you need to know about what happens when Democrats run everywhere:

• Trump personally attacked her, claiming she “hates Christianity”

• House Speaker Mike Johnson flew to Tennessee to campaign for Van Epps

• MAGA Inc. and the Club for Growth spent over $1.7 million in the closing weeks

• Republicans are calling this race a “five-alarm fire” – in a district they drew for themselves and won by 22 points in 2024

Why are they so scared? Because Aftyn is running on affordability – healthcare costs, grocery prices, keeping rural hospitals open. The issues that matter to actual people. And she’s overperforming everywhere.

Win or lose, this race proves the “run everywhere” strategy works.

When Democrats show up in supposedly “unwinnable” districts, Republicans have to spend millions defending seats they thought were safe (that’s millions they can’t spend in actually competitive races). Local voters finally have someone fighting for them who shares their values.

And sometimes – as we’re seeing tonight in Tennessee – the “impossible” becomes … possible.

This is exactly why Every State Blue exists. This is why we fund Democratic nominees in the reddest, most rural, most gerrymandered districts in Ohio, Missouri, and Tennessee – the races that everyone else writes off before they even start.

Aftyn Behn’s race shows what’s possible when Democrats stop ceding territory to Republicans. When we fund candidates in every district. When we believe that every voter deserves a choice, and a voice, and a chance.

Regardless of tonight’s outcome, you can help make more races like this possible.

Every State Blue has distributed over $1 million to downballot Democratic nominees since 2017, using our bottom-up “bathtub” funding method that prioritizes the candidates with the least resources first. We’re building the infrastructure for Democrats to compete everywhere – not just in the districts that political consultants deem “flippable.”

You can support our work here.

And join our Blue Missouri, Blue Ohio, and Blue Tennessee communities – and help us fund the next Aftyn Behn.

Because when we run everywhere, when we fund everyone, when we never give up on any community – that’s when we start making progress. That’s when we start winning.

Let’s run everywhere,

Michele Hornish
Co-Founder and Executive Director
Every State Blue

P.S. – Whether Aftyn wins or loses tonight, the fact that Republicans had to pour millions into defending this “safe” seat is itself a victory. It’s proof that our strategy works. But we can only keep doing this work with your support. Please join us.

Image Credit: https://www.instagram.com/aftynbehn4tn/