Republican Matt Van Epps won the December 2 special election for Tennessee’s 7th Congressional District, defeating Democrat Aftyn Behn by roughly 8-9 percentage points with 98% of votes counted. In a district Donald Trump carried by 22 points just a year ago, that margin represents a significant Democratic overperformance.

But here’s what matters for 2026: Democrats poured resources into this race, secured visits from Kamala Harris and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and still couldn’t overcome the same attacks that have sunk progressive candidates for years. Republicans branded Behn as “the AOC of Tennessee,” hammered her on deleted social media posts about defunding police, and portrayed her as a radical. The attacks landed.

Van Epps, by contrast, ran on his credentials. A West Point graduate and former Army helicopter pilot with combat deployments, he positioned himself as a patriot aligned with Trump’s agenda. His military background was armor against any counterattack that might label him as extreme or out of touch.

Behn’s vulnerabilities were real, documented, and devastating. In 2020, she posted on social media that Nashville’s police department should be “dissolved.” She endorsed a teacher’s union demand that defunding police be a condition for reopening schools. She wrote “Good morning” to the 54% of Americans who believed burning down a police station was justified.

When asked about these posts on national television, Behn refused three times to clarify her position. “I’m not going to engage in cable news talking points,” she said on MS NOW, declining to state whether she still supported defunding police. This handed Republicans exactly what they needed: a candidate who wouldn’t disavow radical positions.

Audio also surfaced of Behn saying she “hated” Nashville, the bachelorettes, the pedal taverns, and country music. For a candidate seeking to represent a Tennessee district, that clip played on a loop in Republican advertising.

Matt Van Epps understood what his military credentials offered him. A decorated combat helicopter pilot with nine tours in Afghanistan and Iraq, Van Epps earned Trump’s endorsement and Mark Green’s support by framing himself as a “proven warrior” focused on “the cost of living” and “the price of gas and groceries.”

Notice how that works: Van Epps could talk pocketbook issues without worrying about being called soft or out of touch. His service credentials pre-empted that attack. He campaigned on affordability, border security, and supporting Trump’s agenda. Republicans didn’t have to defend him against cultural attacks because his biography did that work.

Green, the former congressman Van Epps is replacing, followed the same template. A retired Army surgeon with the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment who participated in the capture of Saddam Hussein, Green won TN-7 by 21 points in 2024. These electoral results are data points.

Party leaders aren’t ignoring this pattern. Rep. Jason Crow, a former Army Ranger helping lead DCCC recruitment, told the New York Times that veterans “open up a segment of that electorate that otherwise would be closed to Democrats.” Rahm Emanuel, who ran the successful 2006 recruitment effort that helped Democrats take the House, put it more bluntly: veteran candidates get “a second look from voters who normally would not give Democrats even a first look.”

The data backs this up. Democratic strategists say at least 17 veterans are currently running in competitive Republican-held districts for 2026. Names to watch include Cait Conley (Army, six overseas deployments) challenging Rep. Michael Lawler in New York, Rebecca Bennett (Navy helicopter pilot) running in New Jersey, and Chris Gallant (Black Hawk pilot, Army veteran) targeting Rep. Nick LaLota’s Long Island seat.

These candidates aren’t running from their progressive values. They’re running with credentials that make the extremist attack much harder to land.

Democrats closed a 13-point gap in a ruby-red district. That’s meaningful heading into midterms where the party needs to flip only three House seats. DNC Chair Ken Martin called the result proof that “Democrats are on offense and Republicans are on the ropes.”

But the Tennessee race also revealed an ongoing vulnerability. When a Democratic candidate has a documented history of radical statements, Republicans will find it, amplify it, and make it the centerpiece of their campaign. Behn couldn’t escape her 2020 social media posts no matter how much she focused on affordability and healthcare costs.

Veteran candidates don’t carry this baggage. More importantly, their service creates a credibility buffer that insulates them from guilt-by-association attacks. When Republicans tried to tie Ruben Gallego to progressive Democrats in Arizona’s 2024 Senate race, his Marine Corps combat record gave voters reason to evaluate him independently. He outperformed Kamala Harris by 8 points in that state.

Van Epps won TN-7 by nationalizing the race around Trump while letting his veteran credentials handle his character defense. Behn tried to localize the race around affordability while avoiding her controversial past. Only one of those strategies worked.

Democrats watching 2026 should take note. The party is fielding more veteran candidates than it has in years, and organizations like VoteVets are scaling recruitment efforts across swing districts. This isn’t about abandoning progressive policy positions. It’s about running candidates who can survive the inevitable attacks that come with competitive races.

Tennessee showed Democrats can compete in hostile territory. The question now is whether they’ll run candidates who can actually win.

Aftyn Behn ran hard, raised more money than her opponent in the final stretch, and focused on issues voters care about. None of it overcame the extremist label. Tennessee’s TN-7 special election demonstrates that candidate selection matters as much as candidate effort.

For 2026, Democrats have a choice. They can run candidates who start each race defending against “radical” attacks, or they can field veterans whose service credentials neutralize that line of attack before it begins. The DCCC and VoteVets are clearly betting on the latter strategy.

Republicans understand this dynamic too. They ran a veteran in TN-7 because veterans win. Democrats should take the hint.