Image: Matt Van Epps, former Tennessee Commissioner of General Services, has received hundreds of thousands of dollars of support in campaign ads from independent political action committees in the GOP primary for the 7th Congressional District. Image Credit: John Partipilo/Tennessee Lookout
***Note from The Tennessee Conservative – This article reposted here for informational purposes only.
By Adam Friedman [Tennessee Lookout -CC BY-NC-ND 4.0] –
The hastily thrown-together video began with a cutout of the Dickson Republican state Rep. Jody Barrett floating in water, and the words “swamp politician” emblazoned across the screen.
Another cutout-based commercial features Matt Van Epps, the former Tennessee General Services Commissioner, in his U.S. Army uniform in various shots, emphasizing that he’s a “MAGA warrior.”
These are two of the advertisements created through part of the nearly $2.5 million spent by independent groups to influence the U.S House race to replace former Clarksville Republican U.S. Rep. Mark Green.
Over 90% of that money has been spent on Barrett and Van Epps in the special election primary set to take place on Oct. 7.
The 7th District is a Middle Tennessee-based seat that runs west of the Tennessee River, covering about a dozen rural counties, before taking a claw-like bite out of a third of north and west Nashville and the western half of Williamson County. It’s considered a Clarksville-based congressional district.
Green resigned from the seat in July, triggering the special election.
There are 12 candidates running in the GOP primary and four in the Democrat primary. Barrett, Van Epps, Brentwood state rep. Gino Bulso and Franklin state rep. Lee Reeves have emerged as the frontrunners in the Republican primary.
Businessman Darden Copeland and Nashville state reps. Aftyn Behn, Vincent Dixie and Bo Mitchell are the Democrat candidates.
Only Dixie has received independent support in the Democrat primary.
A group called United We Succeed has spent $80,000 supporting him, but none of its donors were listed on the Federal Election Commission website as of Oct. 2.
Pro-voucher group goes at Barrett
The School Freedom Fund, a national pro-private school voucher group, has spent almost $700,000 opposing Barrett, which includes the TV advertisement calling Barrett a “swamp politician” and says he’s not a true backer of President Donald Trump or Gov. Bill Lee.
The School Freedom Fund is funded by Club For Growth, whose main backer is Jeff Yass, a billionaire investor who most notably owns a significant stake in Chinese social video company TikTok.
The group spent over $3.3 million in 2024 to elect a slate of pro-private school vouchers to Tennessee’s state legislature. The plan, pushed by Lee, narrowly passed and Barrett opposed it, fearing its impact on rural school districts.
“I just think it’s a dangerous bill fiscally for us that creates an entitlement program that will never go away,” Barrett said to the Lookout before the legislation’s passage at the start of the 2025 legislative session.
Lee endorsed Van Epps in the final days of the campaign.
A group called Conservatives For American Excellence Inc. has spent almost $600,000, about half to oppose Barrett and half to support Van Epps. The organization has received most of its donations from Ken Griffin and Paul Singer, billionaire owners of two hedge funds.
Conservatives For Excellence is running the pro-Van Epps “MAGA warrior” advertisement.
Van Epps has also received over $300,000 in support from the Patriotic Fund, a group whose layering of donations through several political action committees lead back to Miguel Bezos and his now deceased wife, Jacklyn, the parents of the Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.
The House Freedom Action Fund has spent $450,000 in the race, with about two-thirds of the funds supporting Barrett and the remainder opposing Van Epps. The organization is the political arm of the U.S. House Freedom Caucus, generally considered a group of the most conservative GOP members.
Most political rating agencies, including the nonpartisan Cook Political Index, predict whoever emerges from the GOP side will win the Dec. 2 general election to become Tennessee’s next 7th U.S. Congressional District representative.
