A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
Tennessee is a Republican stronghold. But a special congressional election being held today will test that control as a Democrat seeks to flip a seat held by Republicans for decades. As Marianna Bacallao from member station WPLN in Nashville reports, it's been a long time since the state has seen a race this competitive.
MARIANNA BACALLAO, BYLINE: Last year, Republicans swept Tennessee's seventh congressional district by 22 points. That was during a presidential election year when voter turnout was higher for both parties. Back then, many voters blamed Democrats for inflation while President Biden was in the White House.
JOHN GEER: That's changed now because inflation is still a problem and the Republicans are in charge.
BACALLAO: That's John Geer, a political science professor at Vanderbilt University.
GEER: Whether you're a Democrat, Republican or independent, affordability is the issue, and you need to speak to it.
BACALLAO: The Democratic candidate in this year's special election, Aftyn Behn, is an activist turned state lawmaker.
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AFTYN BEHN: As a state representative in Tennessee, I fought to eliminate Tennessee's grocery tax. In Congress, I will fight to make sure your rural hospitals and nursing homes stay open. And I will make sure that no one loses their health care because they can't afford it.
BACALLAO: That was Behn in a video announcing her candidacy. Her push to end the grocery tax ultimately failed without support from the state's Republican supermajority. In the lead-up to the primary election, Van Epps homed in on his support of President Trump.
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MATT VAN EPPS: Conservative warrior. Trump-endorsed. Now I'm on a new mission to help Trump save America.
BACALLAO: As the race shifted to the general election, Republicans now also have their eye on affordability.
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VAN EPPS: Now I'm on a new mission to bring down prices, create good-paying jobs and lower health care costs for working families.
BACALLAO: That shift in message is unusual for Republican races in Tennessee, Geer says.
GEER: What it means is that he realizes he can't run just a Trump campaign - you know, I'm Trump's candidate - because that might not be enough to carry this race.
BACALLAO: While the race is now closer than expected, Geer says, no matter who wins, a competitive race is something the state has been lacking.
GEER: It forces the candidates to respond to each other. It informs the electorate. And Tennessee has been missing that over the last decade or so.
BACALLAO: Both parties have poured millions of dollars into this race. And tonight will determine if Tennessee's seventh district stays red or turns blue.
For NPR News, I'm Marianna Bacallao in Nashville.
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