BBC | Republicans have won a hotly-contested congressional election in Tennessee, US media outlets are projecting, after a race that was viewed as a test of whether Democrats can mount a national comeback next year.
With almost all the votes counted, Republican Matt Van Epps was on course to beat Democrat Aftyn Behn by around nine percentage points.
That will ensure the Republicans retain their slender majority in the House of Representatives. But their margin of victory looks set to be less than half of what they achieved in the last vote, just over a year ago.
The special election attracted national attention - and big spending - ahead of next year's midterm elections.
Despite occurring in what is a reliably Republican area, the vote in the 7th Congressional District was also framed by some pundits as a test of President Donald Trump's popularity during his second term.
Failure to hold the seat could have been seen as an enormous blow for Trump's Republicans and an indication that his electoral appeal could be waning.
In the end, the Republicans did retain the seat - but with a projected margin that appears to be well below the 22-point cushion they achieved in November 2025, on the day Trump won his way back to the White House.
The district that was up for grabs stretches from the border of Alabama to Kentucky, and encompasses parts of the city of Nashville. No Democrat has been elected there in over 40 years.
The seat was vacated after Republican Congressman Mark Green resigned in July to work in the private sector.
Both parties spent millions of dollars in an effort to boost their candidate.