New voting in deep red county should give GOP 'jitters': CNN elections expert

A CNN elections expert on Tuesday night singled out one county in Tennessee's 7th Congressional District that should give Republicans "jitters" heading into the 2026 midterm election.

John King, a national correspondent for CNN, analyzed the early election results for the Tennessee 7th race during CNN's "Anderson Cooper 360" on Tuesday night. Republican and Trump-endorsed candidate Matt Van Epps, a military veteran, was favored to win the seat against Democrat Aftyn Behn. The district is one that Trump carried by more than 20 points during the 2024 election.

King said he is watching the results in Williamson County, a wealthy suburb of Nashville, which could signal how competitive the race is.

"Matt Van Epps is ahead because of Williamson County, but he's leading in this county by just 10 points," King said. "I'm going to emphasize this again and again. Donald Trump won that county by 30 points a little more than a year ago. The Republican incumbent congressman won that county by 30 points a little more than a year ago. The Republican candidate tonight is leading by 10 points. That is what will cause jitters across Republican areas."

Democrats have appeared to have significant momentum heading into next year's midterm after picking up a spate of key races. The party recently won the governor's race in both Virginia and New Jersey, and Democrats flipped control of a statewide board in Georgia for the first time in half a century.