Tennessee election result: Trump congratulates Republican Matt Van Epps on projected win over Dems' Aftyn Behn

US President Donald Trump on Tuesday (local time) congratulated the Republican Party's Matt Van Epps for his projected win over Democrat Aftyn Behn in the election to fill up one seat in the US House of Representatives earlier vacated by the GOP's Mark Green.

"Congratulations to Matt Van Epps on his BIG Congressional WIN in the Great State of Tennessee. The Radical Left Democrats threw everything at him, including Millions of Dollars. Another great night for the Republican Party!!! President DJT" Trump said in a post on Truth Social.

Van Eps has won 53.2 per cent of the total votes polled during the time of writing, as per NBC News. Behn, on the other hand, polled 45.7 per cent of the votes.

Who is Matt Van Epps? What did he say after winning the Tennessee polls?

Matt Van Epps is a US military veteran and former commissioner of the state general services from Nashville.

After the results were declared, Van Epps, in a victory statement, said that he will be "all-in" with the Trump administration in the US Congress.

“Running from Trump is how you lose. Running with Trump is how you win,” he said, adding, “Our victory was powered by a movement of Tennesseans that are ready for change. We are grateful to the President for his unwavering support that charted this movement and catapulted us to victory."

The Republican candidate did benefit from more than $1 million spent on his election campaign by the MAGA faithful.

The Democrats, however, said they were proud of their performance in the race.

“Tonight’s results make it clear: No House Republican’s reelection should be considered safe next November,” House Majority PAC Communications Director CJ Warnke said.

“The momentum has been on our side,” Behn told MS NOW on Tuesday evening. “We are overperforming in places where we need to be, and losing less in other places.”

This win for the GOP comes after the Republicans redrew the 7th district and two others in 2022 in order to prevent the Democrat-aligned Nashville from electing another liberal to the US Congress. Only 20% of the votes in the district, spanning 15 counties are in Nashville.