Today, early voting starts in Tennessee ahead of the special election for Tennessee’s 7th Congressional District on December 2. Over the weekend, DNC Chair Ken Martin campaigned for Democratic candidate Aftyn Behn in his third trip to Tennessee since becoming DNC Chair. Chair Martin’s trip came on the heels of Democrats’ historic Blue Wave last week, in which Democrats overperformed up and down the ballot. 

State Rep. Aftyn Behn is running a campaign that is laser-focused on protecting health care and lowering costs for Tennessee families, including eliminating the state’s grocery tax. In stark contrast, her opponent Matt Van Epps said “we are moving in a great direction,” despite the fact that Donald Trump’s extreme agenda kicks 210,000 Tennessee families off their health insurance and puts nine rural hospitals on the brink of closure.

A reminder: Democratic turnout surged by nearly 38% in the October 7 primary election compared to 2024, underscoring the historic Democratic enthusiasm behind Rep. Behn and Democrats’ positive vision for the state.

In response to the kick-off of early voting in Tennessee, DNC Chair Ken Martin released the following statement:

“As early voting begins today in Tennessee, Aftyn Behn is running hard to lower costs and protect rural health care, while her extreme MAGA opponent is bending the knee to Donald Trump — even stating that there is no policy of Donald Trump’s that he disagrees with. With millions of Americans in Tennessee and around the country struggling under Trump’s cost-of-living crisis, voters are responding to the concrete economic vision that Democrats are offering to make life more affordable and fix the job market. Democrats are competing, overperforming, and winning everywhere this year because, unlike Trump, we’re listening to the people, and the DNC is all-in to support Behn’s campaign from now until Election Day.”

The DNC’s voter protection team, in partnership with the Tennessee Coordinated Campaign, is ensuring voters have all the information they need to make voting early easy, including that they must present an ID when voting. If Tennesseans have questions, they can call the Tennessee voter assistance hotline at 833-336-8683 or go to IWillVote.com, which is also available in Spanish at VoyAVotar.com.

I Will Vote is the DNC’s one-stop shop for voter education and information. Voters can check if they are registered to vote, learn how to register, register online if their state allows it, find their polling location and learn how to cast a mail or early ballot. 

###