CLARKSVILLE, TN (CLARKSVILLE NOW) – The Special Called Primary for Congress District 7 was held today, and polls closed at 7 p.m. On the ballot were the Republican and Democratic primaries for the seat.
Here are the Montgomery County votes; along with the districtwide totals, with all precincts and counties reporting.
Republican Primary
The initial results had Barrett well ahead, but the next batch of returns showed Van Epps in the lead, and it stayed that way for the rest of the night. At about 7:45 p.m., the Associated Press called the race for Van Epps.
- Matt Van Epps: 5,837; district: 19,001
- Jody Barrett: 1,148; district: 9,335
- Gino Bulso: 915; district: 4,004
- Lee Reeves: 307; district: 1,929
- Mason Foley: 108; district: 1,022
- Stewart Parks: 51; district: 595
- Jason D. Knight: 215; district: 381
- Stuart Cooper: 41; district: 239
- Tres Wittum: 33; district: 133
- Joe Leurs: 50; district: 122
- Adolph Agbeko Dagan: 24; district: 93
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Democratic Primary:
Mitchell, Behn and Copeland each took a turn leading the race. As results came in from the different counties, Behn and Mitchell have swapped leads several times.
At 8:50 p.m., Behn was declared the winner by the Tennessee Democratic Party. Final results showed Copeland won Montgomery County, but Behn won the district as a whole.
- Aftyn Behn: 1,931; district: 8,648
- Darden Copeland: 2,145; district: 7,716
- Bo Mitchell: 1,216; district: 7,492
- Vincent Dixie: 1,419; district: 7,146
| MORE: ‘Tennessee is ready for a new kind of Democrat’: Behn wins nomination in Congress race | PHOTOS
Behn talked to Clarksville Now about the results from her watch party in Clarksville: “I’m a little anxious, but really excited. I’m proud of the campaign we’ve run – the grassroots momentum we’ve built, the incredible volunteers we’ve had. I’m just proud of the work we’ve accomplished.”
| MORE: 4 highlights from Congress primary election in Tennessee | ANALYSIS
What’s next
Coming up, the winning Republican and Democrat will face each other, along with four independent candidates, in the Dec. 2 general election. For that election, voters must register by Nov. 3. Early voting will be Nov. 12-26.