This evening, all eyes are on Tennessee's 7th District, which is holding a special election to fill its house seat.

This is a district that Donald Trump won by 22 points just one year ago.

But this evening, it was a much, much closer race.

The NBC News Decision Desicions can project that the Republican, Matt Van Epps, has defeated the Democrat, Afton Bain,

but right now the margin is only about nine points.

So while the Democrats did not gain a seat, they did come a whole lot closer to Republicans

in a ruby red district ahead of next year's midterms.

Let's talk about the numbers.

Republicans should be running for the hills this morning because the blue wave is building,

my dear friend, Mr. Berman. What are we talking about here? Well, Van Epps, Matt Van Epps, the Republican

candidate, he won it by nine, but this is a district that Donald Trump won by 22 points, 15 points,

17 points. This is a 13 point gain for the Democrats in terms of the margin.

An excuse time for Republicans is over because I hear all about these special elections.

Oh, the turnout so low, it's not representative of what happened in the midterm election.

The turnout last night in Tennessee's 7th District was equal to the turnout in the 2022 midterm election. The turnout last night in Tennessee's 7th District was equal to the turnout in the

2022 midterm election. So the blue wave, it seems to be building right out of center of Tennessee.

And we may not have won tonight, but we change the story of what's possible here. And we're not

done, not by a long shot.

So tomorrow, we keep fighting.

Tomorrow, we keep building.

Tomorrow we keep organizing.

See happening is take a look here.

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