The significant influence of President Donald Trump in Republican nomination battles was evident Tuesday, as a candidate he endorsed the previous week secured victory in a competitive and crowded GOP special election primary for an open congressional seat in Tennessee.
According to the Associated Press, Matt Van Epps, the Trump-supported former commissioner of the Tennessee Department of General Services, emerged as the winner among 11 Republican candidates vying for the seat in Tennessee’s reliably Republican 7th Congressional District.
Van Epps is now expected to win the Dec. 2 general election to replace former Republican Rep. Mark Green, who left office in June for a position in the private sector.
Trump’s endorsement of Van Epps, in a field that also featured state Reps. Jody Barrett, Gino Bulso, and Lee Reeves, played a decisive role in the outcome of the primary, even though the president’s support came after early voting had concluded.
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The competition among the leading GOP candidates became a measure of loyalty to Trump, and after the president’s endorsement, Reeves ended his campaign and supported Van Epps.
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“Matt possesses the WISDOM and COURAGE necessary to Defend our Country, Support our Incredible Military/Veterans, and Ensure PEACE THROUGH STRENGTH,” Trump stated in his endorsement.
Van Epps, who also received endorsements from Green and Republican Gov. Bill Lee, described Trump’s support as “an incredible honor.”
On Monday night, the night before the primary, the president participated in a tele-rally with Van Epps, co-hosted by the influential conservative group Club for Growth, which also supported Van Epps.
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Trump won the district, which spans central and western Tennessee from Kentucky to Alabama, by approximately 20 points in the previous year’s presidential election.
Van Epps, a lieutenant colonel in the Tennessee Army National Guard and a former Army helicopter pilot, also had the backing of prominent House Republican Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio.
However, Barrett, who emphasized his status as the “most conservative state rep. in Tennessee history,” was supported by the political arm of the House Freedom Caucus, which invested heavily in the primary.
Four prominent Democrats competed for their party’s nomination: state Reps. Vincent Dixie, Aftyn Behn, Bo Mitchell, and businessman Darden Copeland.
Republicans currently hold a 219-213 majority in the House, with two vacant seats: the seat in Tennessee and Texas’s 18th Congressional District, following the death of Democratic Rep. Sylvester Turner earlier this year.
Democratic Rep.-elect Adelita Grijalva, who won a special congressional election in Arizona last month, has not yet been sworn in.
