Kamala Harris Visits Nashville, Encourages Voting Without Endorsing Democrat Aftyn Behn

 The Democratic candidate in the 7th District special election left the event before the former vice president arrived

Former Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at Hadley Park on Tuesday afternoon to rally votes for the District 7 special election. Credit: Martin B. Cherry / Nashville Banner

Nashville Banner, Nov. 19, 2025- Scores of Nashvillians packed into a pavilion at Hadley Park on Tuesday afternoon as former Vice President Kamala Harris came to a Tennessee Democratic Party event to encourage voting in the District 7 special election. 

But Harris and State Rep. Aftyn Behn (D-Nashville), the party’s nominee with an unusual chance in the off-cycle election in a typically red district, did not cross paths or acknowledge each other directly at the event. 

In a bizarre campaign move, Behn left about five minutes before Harris’ motorcade pulled up to the pavilion, sending the crowd into a frenzy. 

“I have a bunch of events. I have stuff I have to go to, but I’m so excited for who’s coming, and deeply honoured that you all are here today,” Behn told the crowd during a minute-long speech. She did not name Harris but urged voter turnout. .... Behn told the Banner she had a “huge fundraiser” to attend at a downtown law firm. ...  former vice president...in town for her book tour

Though she has primarily campaigned on affordability and avoided more divisive topics, Behn, a progressive Democrat, is generally to the left of Harris, a moderate.  (read more)

Rod's Comment: Okay, can someone tell me what is going on here? I suspect Harris wants to give the presidency another shot and does not want to be tied to the far left of the party, but maybe I'm missing something. It seems to me, that Harris has taken positions every bit as woke progressive as Aftyn Behn, but maybe she doesn't want any recent reminders? One would think Aftyn Behn would have stuck around for a photo with Harris, if nothing else. Was it prearranged that they would not be on the same stage together? I am not buying that Behn had to rush off to a fundraiser party and couldn't delay her arrival by a few minutes. 

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Will Democrats Learn the Wrong Lesson from the TN-07 Election

by Rod Williams, Dec. 6, 2025 - In a race that drew nationwide attention, Republican Van Epps beat  Democrat Aftyn Behn by a slim margin in the special election for Tennessee's 7th Congressional District. Both parties spent large amounts of money, and independent PACs also invested a substantial amount on their behalf. They each enlisted outside star power to support their campaigns. 

Pundits are still talking about the race and drawing conclusions. Some Democrats almost seem giddy. Despite losing, they are celebrating that the race was closer than many originally expected. Van Epps beat Behn by nearly 9 percentage points in a district Democrats have lost by more than 20 percentage points over the last several election cycles. In 2024, Rep. Mark Green, who retired from Congress this summer, creating the vacancy, was reelected by 21 percentage points. 

It is surprising to me that Behn came so close. While I voted for Van Epps, I have mixed views about whether I am pleased or alarmed that the election was so close.  If I view the election as a referendum on Donald Trump, then I am pleased. I can be pleased that Trump's authoritarianism and chaos are causing people such concern that they will even vote for a woke progressive socialist. 

If, instead of being pleased and seeing the election as a renunciation of Trumpism, I see that an extremist woke progressive socialist almost won an election in middle Tennessee, then I am alarmed. I am choosing the first position and taking the position that the election being close is a good sign that Trump's popularity is slipping. 

"Woke progressive" and "socialist" are terms loosely hurled at Democrats by Republicans, much the way "fascist" is hurled at Republicans by Democrats. Sometimes a person labeled a "woke progressive" is simply a liberal. In Atfyn Behn's case, I think it is an apt label. She has supported sex change operations for children, advocated defunding the police, denigrated motherhood, said men can birth babies, and uses the term "birthing people" instead of "mothers."  She also said she hates Nashville, the city she wants to represent, and she was endorsed by the Democratic Socialist Party. 

My friend Mark Rogers, an astute political observer and political practitioner, points out that the district was never as deep red as the 21-point victory by Green in 2024 indicates. Mark notes NBC's Steve Kornacki's insight when he said, "Of note, in the Dem-friendly 2018 midterm, GOP Senate nominee Marsha Blackburn won what is now TN-7 by 0.5 points over Democrat Phil Brededen. (The statewide margin was Blackburn +11)."

Mark Rogers says Phil Bredesen is the sort of pragmatic moderate that the extremists in both parties want to purge. "I know Phil Bredesen," says Mark, "and Aftyn Behn is no Phil Bredesen." 

I think I agree with Mark. If I take myself as by prime example, I was prepared to vote for a Democrat. I hold very few political views in common with Democrats, but I am concerned about the separation of powers and disappointed by how Republicans will not stand up to Trump on much of anything. Some things are so clear-cut that I am astounded that Republicans in Congress just allow Trump to act with impunity. A clear example is tariffs. The Constitution clearly says taxing power is a power of Congress, yet Congress has allowed Trump to set tariff rates. This is just one of many examples.  I think that if a Republican Congress will not stand up to Trump, then we need a Democrat Congress. Having said that, I could not bring myself to vote for someone as radical as Aftyn Behn. I explain this in more detail here.

I don't know how many people there are like me, who would have voted for a moderate Democrat but could not vote for a woke progressive Democrat. I suspect that there are quite a few people who could vote for someone like Phil Bredesen but not someone like AOC. I expect that Democrats are not going to see it that way. Performing fairly well with Aftyn Behn, I suspect Dems will think the Mandomi-Bernie-AOC brand of democrat will play well everywhere. I think Democrats will draw wrong conclusions and learn the wrong lessons.

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TN-07 Looks Like it Could Flip for the Democrats

by Rod Williams, Nov. 16, 2025- The above analysis shows that the 7th Congressional District is winnable by the Democratic nominee Aftyn Behn. It is hard to believe, but the analysis seems solid. 

I have not voted yet and am in a quandary about what to do. On the one hand, I think Trump needs to be stopped, Congress needs to reassert its authority, and Congress needs to conduct oversight.  I see Trump as a threat to America's continued existence as a democracy.  Republicans in Congress have shown no appetite for holding Trump accountable. In the abstract, I want to see Democrats retake the House. 

On the other hand, the Democratic voters of Tennessee's seventh congressional district nominated the most progressive candidate of the candidates running. Aftyn Behn has been a community organizer for Tennessee Justice Center and a community organizer for Indivisible and has advocated for an end to cash bail, defunding the police, and abolishing the Electoral College, and has advocated rolling back Tennessee's restriction on child genital mutilation procedures commonly called "gender affirming care." (1)  She has the endorsement of the Progressive Democrats of America.

As much as I want to see Trump's march toward authoritarianism stopped, I don't think I can vote for Aftyn Behn. I could have voted for Bo Mitchell; but not Aftyn Behn. I held my nose in 2024 and voted for Kamala Harris. That does not mean I will continue to vote for far-left candidates,  especially candidates for lesser offices.

I have watched videos and debates and visited his website, and familiarized myself with Republican candidate Matt Van Epps. I voted in the Republican primary and voted for him. I familiarized myself with all the Republican candidates running and perceived Van Epps to be the best-qualified and least Trumpy of the field. In this year's primary, I had to vote early due to being out of town on election day, and between the time I voted and primary election day, President Trump endorsed Van Epps. I was quite surprised. If I believed VanEpps would stand firm for conservative values against Trump's authoritarian nationalism, and he would not be just another Trump lackey, he would get my vote. 

If this were normal times, I would not think twice about for whom I would vote. Looking simply at their position on the issues, I would vote for Van Epps in a heartbeat. There would be no contest. However, these are not normal times.  Checking Trump's authoritarianism is the issue that may trump all others for me, but even that has limits. I can vote center-left in order to check Trump; I am not sure I can vote far-left. When I chose to vote for Harris over Trump, more was at stake. I was actually voting for who would occupy the highest office in the land, and Trump had attempted a coup, and Harris had not. In voting for one of 435 House members, less is at stake so the weight of the pressure to vote against my principles in order to curtail Trump's authoritarian polices is less intense. 

When Democrats did not stand a chance of winning the 7th, I had decided my vote didn't matter and I would just sit out the election. Now, that my vote would matter, I still may sit out the election but can not do so with the same peace of mind.

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Aftyn Behn is the Democrat Nominee for TN-07. She Won't Get My Vote.

by Rod Williams, Oct. 8, 2025- Since Donald Trump has a solid lock on the Republican Party and Republicans will not resist his authoritarianism, his disregard for the Constitution, or investigate his corruption and abuse of power, I have reluctantly concluded that the best thing that could happen is if Democrats could retake the House. I do not want them to take both chambers, and I want their margin to be very thin. I want just enough Dems to win to cause gridlock and for the House to be able to conduct oversight hearings. 

Despite concluding I wanted Trump's lock on the House broken, I voted in the Republican Primary to choose the Republican nominee for the upcoming special election to fill the vacancy for the Seventh Congressional District. I concluded that the 7th being an overwhelmingly Republican district, whoever wins the Republican nomination will most likely be the next congressman from the district. I wanted the best candidate we could get. 

After studying each of the candidates, I concluded Van Epps was the most sensible and least Trumpy of the 11 candidates running. I voted for him, voting early this year, which is something I rarely do. Right before election day, Donald Trump endorsed Van Epps and I regretted my vote. Had I waited until election day to vote, I would have had to take a second look at the candidates and may have actually voted in the Democratic primary instead of the Republican primary. I do not want to facilitate Trump's march toward authoritarianism. 

I thought that, despite a Democratic candidate being a long shot to win the general election, if I had not already voted, I would vote in the Democratic primary as a matter of conscience. I also thought that when the general election rolls around, I might vote for the Democratic nominee. 

Now that the primary is behind us, and I see that the Democratic nominee is Aftyn Behn, I don't think I can bring myself to cast a vote for the Democrat. Dems picked the worst of the candidates running. I might could vote for a Bo Mitchell; but not Aftyn Behn. 

I may just sit out this election. I have time to think about it, but it is a tough choice when one must choose between a radical leftist and a Trump loyalist.  I have not paid any attention to the independents who are running and despite an independent having no chance of winning, I may give them a look. I may determine that Van Epps, despite the Trump endorsement, is the least bad choice. However, I don't feel compelled to vote. When given two bad choices, it is okay not to choose. 

Aftyn Behn is a community organizer for the Tennessee Justice Center. She once disrupted the proceedings of the Tennessee House of Representatives and had to be removed from the chamber gallery. She is a pro-abortion activist. She had the endorsements of the Democratic Socialists of America and the Progressive Democrats of America in the primary. I can't to it. I can't vote for her. 

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Why Dems Are Pouring Money Into the Tennessee 7th

by  Lauren Egan, The Bulwark, Nov. 23, 2025 - IT’S BEEN A GOOD MONTH for the Democratic party. Double-digit wins in the Virginia and New Jersey gubernatorial races, fractures within the Republican coalition over releasing the Jeffrey Epstein files, and polls ....

The 7th is now reliably Republican; Trump carried it by 22 percentage points in 2024 and Green won his last two races by a similar margin. ...

In short, TN-7 is not exactly the place where the two political parties tend to fight it out, let alone spend meaningful sums of money. Yet that’s exactly what is happening in this special election.

Millions of dollars have poured into middle Tennessee in an attempt to tip the balance between Democrat Aftyn Behn, a progressive organizer and state representative, and Republican Matt Van Epps, the former Tennessee General Services commissioner.

... while it’s notable how much more bullish Democrats have gotten about their prospects, most party officials I spoke with (both in Tennessee and at national party organizations) think that Van Epps will ultimately win. It’s simple math. While Democrats tend to overperform in special elections and a Trump backlash is clearly brewing, a 22-point deficit is just a lot to overcome.

In private, Democratic officials tell me that they are hoping to see a single-digit loss. They believe even that would be enough to send a message that the political winds are at their backs, that Trump’s agenda is politically toxic, and that Democrats can seriously compete in red parts of the country that just a few weeks ago felt out of reach.

... Behn is running a campaign designed to turn out Democrats more than to make crosscurrent appeals to Republicans. That may work in a special election. But officials here think that such an approach would doom her in a regular election cycle, when Republican voters are more clued in and willing to show up. If Democrats want to be anything other than the party of highly educated people who show up in special elections, then they have to figure out how to win over more moderate and conservative voters.

...it is imperative for Democrats to find a formula that works. Behn may benefit from running in a special election—in which her party has routinely overperformed—but her success (or failure) is going to be closely studied for which voters are activated and why.

...Democrats in the state insist that a base-turnout strategy could work. In my conversation with Martin, he stated plainly that the race was “not about persuading voters, it’s about turning them out.” And at a canvass launch I attended last week, organizers for the Behn campaign told volunteers that they would be knocking only on the doors of Democratic voters and likely wouldn’t encounter any Republicans.

... Republicans have attempted to paint Behn as too liberal, resurfacing old podcast comments she made about policing and going after the work she did for the progressive grassroots group Indivisible. They’ve dubbed her the “AOC of Tennessee” and circulated clips of her calling Trump a “racist, white-supremacist bigot.”

There are some signals that Behn recognizes the risks and rewards of a base-turnout approach—and is trying to balance them. She has campaigned with progressive stars like Rep. Jasmine Crockett and activist David Hogg. But her buzziest campaign video does not even mention her party affiliation. When Kamala Harris made a surprise appearance in Nashville to encourage people to vote in the special election, it was hosted by the Tennessee Democratic Party, not Behn’s campaign. Harris, who had long planned to be in town for her book tour, never mentioned Behn by name and the two did not appear together. Behn left the rally to attend a fundraiser just a few minutes before the vice president arrived.

... The Behn model might be the smartest play for a special election, but the Democrats I spoke with warned that it was not how the party would unseat other Republicans in deeply red districts, like GOP Rep. Andy Ogles in Tennessee’s 5th—a race that the national Democratic party has already said they will spend money on next year.

“If Aftyn comes within 10 points, I absolutely think most Democrats in Tennessee will see this as ammunition to run further to the left in all races,” said a local elected official.

... Van Epps won a crowded Republican primary thanks to an endorsement from Trump, he’s done very little to highlight his MAGA credentials in the general election. In a recent TV ad, Van Epps doesn’t even mention he’s a Republican. (Read it all)

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The Case for Proportional Representation

by Rod Williams, Aug.20, 2026- Yesterday, initially spurred by a Facebook post by Raph Bristol, which I reposted to my page, Michael Dioguardi and I had a discussion of proportional representation. I was only vaguely informed about the concept.  Michael explained it and made the case for it. I think I am almost persuaded.

Unfortunately, with so many people vested in and accustomed to our current two-party, winner-take-all system, changing how we elect our political leaders would be difficult.  However, proportional representation is legally possible under the existing constitutional and statutory frameworks. The Constitution does not even mention political parties, and the founders warned against them.

In my view, with the rise of Donald Trump and the more extreme factions controlling the parties, and the moderate, sensible center shrinking, I think it is time to question the way we govern ourselves. 

Below is the conversation:

 Ralph Bristol:

THE NEW NORMAL?

ORLANDO, Fla.—Rep. Byron Donalds, President Trump’s staunch ally, cruised to victory in the Republican contest in Florida to succeed Gov. Ron DeSantis, while a Democratic socialist, state Rep. Angie Nixon, scored an upset win in the Democrats’ Senate primary.

Is it my imagination or is there less and less room in politics for anyone other than a staunch Trump ally and a Democratic socialist? 

I'll bet a lot of people are feeling "disenfranchised." I know I am.

Michael Dioguardi:

 

Michael Dioguardi

I did not know Donalds was fully aligned with Trump but listening to interviews with him in months past, he sounded sane and reasonable.

Hopefully he serves the people of Florida first and does not have his nose up Trump’s behind like Ogles did.

The larger question about socialism and Trumpism is spot-on, but I think the deeper problem is structural. Our primary system and single-member districts reward the most partisan and intensely motivated voters, then force everyone else into a winner-take-all choice between candidates they may not actually support.

The answer to that is often, “Then people should vote in the primary.” But voting in a primary does not make the resulting system representative. A primary selects one candidate for a party. The general election then selects one person to represent an entire district containing people with many different political views.

Nobody is forced to vote, but the structure does force a winner-take-all outcome. If 45% vote for A and 55% vote for B, B receives 100% of the representation. Those 45% do not become represented simply because they had the opportunity to vote.

The result is predictable. Candidates have an incentive to appeal to the most partisan voters in the primary, then personalize the general election around defeating one opponent rather than persuading voters with competing ideas. The problem is not simply the candidates. It is the electoral structure that continually produces these incentives.

Consider a moderate Democrat or Republican faced with candidates representing the extremes of their respective parties. Whichever party wins, that voter may still have no meaningful representation. After repeatedly being told that the choice is between two candidates neither of whom represents them, apathy is hardly surprising.

Proportional representation changes the equation. A vote for a minority viewpoint can become a vote for actual representation rather than merely a vote against the candidate you fear most. That is the fundamental distinction between having the right to vote and having a reasonable expectation that your vote will produce representation.

Rod Williams

Rod Williams

How would that work in a congressional district? In Tennessee's 7th, Republican Matt Van Epps defeated Democratic state Rep. Aftyn Behn in the December 2, 2025 special election. to replace retired Rep. Mark Green in Nashville.

Final vote totals were approximately 180,000 votes. Matt Van Epps received 97,034 votes (53.9%), and Aftyn Behn (D) received 81,109 votes (45.1%). So how would proportional representation work?

In the Dem primary, Democratic participation was about 31,002 voters.

Aftyn Behn 8,653 27.9%

Darden Copeland 7,720 24.9%

Bo Mitchell 7,498 24.2%

Vincent Dixie 7,153 23.1%

I understand ranked choice, which, if we had it, would most likely have resulted in Bo Mitchel being the nominee. I would have voted for him. Not that I would prefer his policies, but I think derailing Donald Trump's agenda is important. I could not vote for nut-job socialist Afyn Behn, however, and voted for Vam Epps.

So how would proportional representation worked in the primary and the general election?

Michael Dioguardi

 The first thing to understand is that proportional representation would not simply take the existing congressional districts, the existing two parties, and divide the existing election results among multiple seats. That would miss the entire point.

Under PR, the districts would be larger and multi-member, and the number of seats assigned to each district would be determined by the system adopted. More importantly, the political dynamics would change. If voters knew that a party receiving 10%, 15%, or 20% of the vote could actually win representation, they would have far less reason to abandon that party and vote strategically for one of the two major parties.

We would therefore likely see more parties competing and different coalitions of voters emerging. The electoral map would not simply produce a proportional version of today’s Republican and Democratic vote totals. It would produce a political landscape that more accurately reflects the range of views that actually exist.

That is why I would not use the Van Epps/Behn result to say, “54% would get this many seats and 45% would get that many.” That assumes today’s two-party SMD election would somehow exist unchanged under PR. It would not. The point of PR is to change the incentives so that voters can support the party or political philosophy they actually prefer and have that support translated into representation.

There is another important part of this. PR would not simply give the existing Republican and Democratic factions more seats. It would change the incentives that produce those factions in the first place.

Today, a voter who is politically moderate may have little choice but to identify with whichever major party is closer to them, even if neither party actually represents their views. Meanwhile, the most intensely partisan voters have disproportionate influence because they dominate primaries and determine which candidates emerge.

Under PR, those dynamics change. The more ideological voters could have a party that genuinely represents their views without having to capture one of the two major parties, while moderates could likewise support a party that actually reflects their preferences. Instead of forcing the entire political spectrum into two parties and then allowing the most motivated factions to fight for control of them, PR allows that spectrum to be represented by multiple parties.

So the point is not simply to take today’s election results and divide them among multiple seats. The point is to create an electoral system in which the political choices themselves become more representative.

Rod Williams

 Ok, that makes sense. Thanks for the explanation. So, we would have far fewer, much larger districts? Would such a system require a much larger Congress? Are there examples of democracies having such a system?

Michael Dioguardi

 You are correct. And yes, there are plenty of real-world examples. Spain, Portugal, Sweden, Norway, and Finland are all examples of countries whose national legislatures are elected through proportional representation rather than the single-member-district system used by the United States and United Kingdom. Germany and New Zealand are also proportional systems, but they use mixed-member systems, so I would not include them in this comparison.

The important point is that PR does not simply take today’s two-party election results and divide them among multiple seats. Once voters know that smaller parties can actually win representation, the incentives change. Voters have a reason to support the party that actually reflects their views, which produces a political landscape far more diverse than the two-party system we see today.

And any concerns one may have about PR are mitigated by the Senate as the body representing each state because the Senate preserves the federal principle. The House would represent the people proportionally, while the Senate would continue to represent the states equally, regardless of population or political composition. One chamber would therefore reflect the diversity of political opinion among Americans, while the other would protect the sovereignty and interests of the states.

Rod Williams

So, would this eliminate primaries?

Michael Dioguardi

Yes, it would, and that is one of the significant advantages of PR. The exact mechanics depend on whether an open or closed list is adopted, but either way the current primary system becomes unnecessary.

With a closed list, parties would determine their candidates and voters would choose among parties in the general election. The idea here is that voters are primarily choosing a party based on its ideals and platform rather than choosing one individual candidate.

With an open list, voters could choose individual candidates within each party directly in the general election. That also recognizes that a party is not necessarily ideologically uniform. A Republican ballot, for example, could include several Republican candidates with different views, and voters could decide which candidates receive seats. The idea here is that voters choose both the party whose ideals they support and the candidates they believe best represent those ideals, even when there is not complete uniformity among the candidates.

After the votes are tallied, seats are allocated to each party based on the percentage of the vote that party receives. In an open-list system, voters can choose among as many candidates as the electoral rules permit. If a party hypothetically fields 50 candidates but earns enough votes for only five seats, the five candidates with the strongest individual support would receive those seats. There is no requirement that the party limit itself to a single candidate, as it must under our current single-member system.

That eliminates the need for a separate primary whose purpose is to select one candidate to represent an entire party in a winner-take-all contest. More importantly, candidates would no longer have to appeal disproportionately to the most partisan voters who dominate primaries. They would have to persuade voters in the general election, while voters would have more choices both between parties and within them. That is another way PR changes the political dynamic: instead of forcing diverse viewpoints into two parties and then forcing each party to choose one person, it allows that diversity to be expressed directly through the general election.

If you would like to join the conversations, follow or friend me on Facebook. 

Michael Dioguardi is a friend of mine living here in Nashville and along with three or four other well-informed, smart people, we get together once a month for a dinner to discuss current events and ideas. He is a residential property manager in Nashville and is an independent blogger writing under the title Seeker of Liberty. Drawing on years of dedicated study of the U.S. Constitution, the Federalist and Anti-Federalist Papers, landmark court decisions, and Austrian School economics, he analyzes contemporary challenges to individual liberty, institutional accountability, and economic stability. 

 

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With Marjorie Taylor Greene's Announced Resignation, the Behn-Van Epss Seat Becomes Even More Important.

Republican Matt Van Epss and Democrat Aftyn Behn

by Rod Williams, Nov. 25, 2025- The TN-07 special election for Congress has been getting lots of national attention. I must have seen half a dozen podcasters report on the race and several mainstream news outlets. Also, a lot of out-of-state money from independent groups is pouring into the race. Total independent expenditures by Democratic groups has reached $1.9 million so far and Republican groups have injected $2.4 million into the race. (1) The race has taken on a lot more importance with the announcement that Marjorie Taylor Green is resigning from Congress on January 5th. 

There is widespread belief that Democrats will retake the House in the midterms on November 3, 2026. Something like 20 House Republicans have already announced they will not be seeking reelection.  There is a possibility that the House could switch earlier, if things go right for Democrats. Part of things going right is Aftym Behn winning the upcoming Dec 2nd election. 

Republicans currently hold a 219-213 edge in the House of Representatives. With Green vacating a seat, the split will be 218 to 213.  There are two other special elections to fill vacant seats scheduled to take place soon, and Democrats are heavily favored in both races. One is in Texas to replace the late Representative Sylvester Turner who died in March, and the other in New Jersey to replace Governor-elect Mikie Sherrill, who last week resigned from her seat in the House of Representatives. The Texas special election is set for March, while the New Jersey race is set for April. (2) If  Democrats win these two seats in addition to the Marjorie Taylor Green seat being vacant, the split will be Republicans 218 to Democrats 215. If this happens and Aftyn Behn wins the TN-07 seat split would be 218-216. 

If that happens, then it only takes two Republicans to follow Marjorie Taylor Greene's example and retire early for the House to split 216-216. Punchbowl News is stating that "a few other GOP members" are "considering retiring in the middle of the term." (2) Should this happen it would lead to a power-sharing arrangement. If three resign early, the Democrats gain control. While this scenario is unlikely, it is possible. This is why so much national attention is being focused on a race that until recently was considered a solid, safe red seat and not worth spending money on. 

I feel pretty confident that the TN-07 seat will stay Republican. With revelations that Behn supports sex change treatments for children, supports defunding the police, and hates Nashville, I think her chances of winning have decreased. If Democrats had chosen a more moderate candidate, I think the chances of flipping the seat would be much greater. 

Even if Democrats do not retake the House, a slimmer Republican majority means that it takes fewer disgruntled Republican House members to cause headaches for the Speaker. It means it is harder for the Speaker to hold up legislation that a large portion of the House wants to see the light of day. It takes fewer Republican defections for committees to conduct meaningful oversight. 

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Democrat Candidate Aftyn Behn Said Prayer Makes Her ‘Deeply Uncomfortable’

"Democrat Candidate Aftyn Behn Said Prayer Makes Her ‘Deeply Uncomfortable’ In Resurfaced Audio Democrat Candidate Aftyn Behn Said Prayer Makes Her ‘Deeply Uncomfortable’ In Resurfaced Audio" Link

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Tennessee Democrats have a chance in a looming special District 7 congressional election

by Tyler Brasher, Tennessee Lookout, July 10, 2025-If you haven’t heard, Republican U.S. Rep. Mark Green announced his intent to resign from Congress on July 20 and there will be a special election to replace him in Tennessee’s 7th Congressional District, a district which spans from deep blue Davidson County in the east to deep red Decatur County in the west. Under Tennessee law, an election to fill a congressional vacancy must take place by early November — a tight turnaround. 

Democrats in Davidson County, in District 7, in Tennessee, and across the rest of the country have a

unique opportunity to flip this seat. The Republican margin in Congress is already razor thin: Republicans can lose just three votes on any given legislation. A few strategic seat flips could place Democrats within striking distance of retaking the majority in the House. 

Now, if you’re a good self-defeating Democrat, you may be thinking to yourself, “Self, didn’t former Nashville Mayor Megan Barry lose this race just eight months ago by 21.5 points?” Well, yes. She did. Flipping the district will take some work, but there are a few factors that narrow the gap. 

• The two Democrats competing in special congressional elections since November have vastly outperformed the expectations for their districts. In April, Democratic candidate Gay Valimont in Florida’s 1st Congressional District moved her district 17 points from November in the special election to replace Rep. Matt Gaetz. Similarly, Joshua Weil improved the margin in Florida’s 6th Congressional District by 19 points, also in April. That sounds like an average of 18 points to me, and I do basic math every single day for a living. 

• The gap in Tennessee’s District 7 of 21.5 points is not insurmountable. Nashville Democratic Rep. Aftyn Behn announced Tuesday she will run for the congressional seat being vacated by U.S. Rep. Mark Green. (Photo: John Partipilo/Tennessee Lookout) Nashville Democratic Rep. Aftyn Behn announced Tuesday she will run for the congressional seat being vacated by U.S. Rep. Mark Green. (Photo: John Partipilo/Tennessee Lookout) This special election has national implications. There are three other vacancies in Congress — Texas’s 18th Congressional District, Arizona’s 7th Congressional District, and Virginia’s 11th Congressional District are vacant due to deaths — right now which will require special elections: All three are in safe Democratic districts which are not likely to swing toward Republicans this cycle. In that case, all eyes will be on Tennessee as the premiere special election in the country. For once, a Tennessee Democratic candidate will have significant resources from outside the state. Assuming the other seats are retained by Democrats, once Green’s seat flips, U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, will have a majority of just three members (he could lose just one vote on any given bill). Get your popcorn ready for a knockdown, drag-out fight for this seat. 

• President Donald Trump’s administration and congressional Republicans just handed the American public a hot mess with their One Big Beautiful Bill Act (“OBBA”). The bill is certainly big, in terms of the tax cuts that the wealthy will reap and in terms of the harm that will be done to the poorest Americans, but it is anything but beautiful. The bill will cost millions of Americans their health coverage, shutter rural hospitals and the federal deficit will explode. (I’m beginning to think maybe it was never about fiscal responsibility?) This is not to mention the clean energy cuts and expansion of unaccountable Immigration and Customs Enforcement deportation measures. Republicans may not realize just yet, but the bill harms Americans. Democrats are fired up and ready to go shout this from the rooftops. 

The Tennessee race is winnable for Democrats, with the right candidate. So, what does that candidate look like? I’d say they’re looking for someone who is: 

• Pragmatic and can rise above petty politics to do the right thing at all costs; 
• Deeply caring about their community, their district, our country, and humanity at large; 
• Capable of crafting and delivering a message built on kitchen table, economic issues like better public schools, cheaper health coverage, lower prices and eliminating Trump tariffs; 
• Unafraid to stand up against the Trump political movement and stand up for those among us who are marginalized and forgotten; 
• Experienced in public service and knows the ins and outs of getting things done; 
• Exciting to the base, who can deliver a win with an effective campaign that is built on the fundamentals.

Democrats have a number of options to choose from that might fit the bill. Within days of Green announcing his resignation, two Democratic state representatives announced their candidacy for the seat: Rep. Bo Mitchell and Rep. Aftyn Behn, both of Nashville. A few other names are being tossed around as well, including Nashville Rep. Vincent Dixie and former Nashville Mayor John Cooper. Better buckle up, as Democrats are in for an exciting primary. At the end of the day, no matter who you support this special election season, it’s important to engage in the process. Politics is about people after all. Democracy, if we work for it, gives people, like you, a voice.

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A Different Democrat Could Have Made TN-07 Election a Closer Race.

Mark Rogers

by Mark Rogers, reposted from Facebook, Dec. 3, 2025-  Matt Van Epps wins the special election for the TN-07 Congressional District. This race will be dissected for months as we head into the 2026 cycle. A few thoughts so far:

1) Matt was the calmest and least radical-sounding candidate in the Republican primary and he won handily. He easily won early voting before Trump's endorsement came through. I believe his approach inoculated him from the dissatisfaction of some Republicans over the state and national situations.

2) The endorsement by Trump prevented most far-right voters from staying home after their candidates were defeated. 

3) Aftyn Behn ran excellent campaigns in the primary and the general, but the 'progressive' edge that helped her win in the first round hurt her in the second. 

4) I think Behn should have directly addressed her comments about Nashville, bachelorettes, police, and  (especially) country music early in the general election and put them behind her.  

5) If the Democrats in Tennessee think their future is going to be in following Behn and the two Justins, they are, I suspect, badly wrong. The Democrats dominated Tennessee for well over 150 years by balancing economic populism with Southern values. Embracing the AOC-Bernie-Kamala axis of Walmart Socialism and the cultural values of Hollywood won't win over Tennessee voters.

Mark Rogers has served in government, the non-profit sector, and politics. He is well known as a successful campaign manager and political consultant. He lives in Nashville

Rod's Comment:
I think Mark has hit the nail on the head. I was going to write something similar, but could not have said it better. As much as I am concerned about Trump's presidency and our march toward authoritarianism, and as much as I would like to see a Congress that would stand up to Trump, I could not bring myself to vote for Aftyn Behn. Had the candidate been Bo Mitchell or any moderate Democrat, I would have voted for the Democratic candidate. 

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The Deck is Stacked in Andy Ogles Favor as Republicans Choose New Voters for Ogles

The New 5th

by Rod Williams, May 15, 2026-The redrawn newly adopted Tennessee Congressional maps have shifted the 5th Congressional seat to the west of Nashville, running through rural west Tennessee to the Mississippi River and south along the river to the outskirts of Memphis. As reported by The Tennessean, the new 5th Congressional district has only 17% of the same people as the current district. It looks like the district was purposely redrawn to improve Ogles chances for reelection. The new 5th includes none of Davidson County, where Ogles is unpopular and cuts Ogles ' strongest challenger out of the district. The new lines split Maury County and Columbia, putting Ogles in the district and cutting Columbia mayor Chaz Molder out of the district.

This is disappointing and disturbing. Politicians should not get to select their voters. I do not live in the 5th and cannot vote against Ogles even if the district lines had not changed, but would if I could. I had already sent Molder a modest contribution and was prepared to send more.  

Ogles is pathetic. It looks like he stays up late at night reading Trump's Truth Social post, so he can be the first to propose legislation the next morning to enact into law whatever insane weird thought Trump had at 2:30 AM during the night. Luckly none of it makes it into law, but Ogles gets some face time on Fox news and a pat on the head from Trump. Ogles has got to be Trump's number one lapdog, bootlicker, or whatever term you want to use to describe such subservient sycophant behavior. 

The Current 5th

I was excited that it was looking like Ogles could be defeated. I was excited that it looked like Democrats were going to choose a sensible moderate to challenge Ogles as opposed to some progressive woke nut-job, like they did when they chose Aftyn Behn as their candidate for the 7th Congressional District last year. Democrats had a chance to take the 7th but threw it away. 

Some time ago, I reached the conclusion that to stop Trump's authoritarian agenda, Democrats needed to retake the House. I live in the 7th and when there was a special election to fill the vacant seat for this district, I was prepared to vote for a Democrat and then the Democrat nominee turned out to be Aftyn Behn, and I just couldn't do it. I voted for Republican Van Epps. 

It looks like in the race against Ogles, Democrats were not going to make the same mistake they made in nominating Behn in the 7th. Molder looks like the kind of candidate that disaffected Republicans and independents could support. Unfortunately, Republican lawmakers have chosen a new set of voters for Ogles, and it will now be much harder to unseat him. 

Molder has been gaining momentum, and the more I have learned about him, the more I like him.  He has raised more than $1.8 million since he announced his candidacy and more that 85% of it came from Tennesseans. That is a lot of money. Congressman Ogles has only raised about $440,000. It was looking like Molder could actually beat Ogles. 

Molder has announced that he is still running for Congress in the 5th. Good for him. U.S. representatives are not required to live in the districts they represent. I am glad Ogles will have a strong challenger. Unfortunately, it is going to be even more of an uphill battle for Molder. The new district looks a lot safer for a Trumpinista Republican than did the old district. I will keep following this campaign and hope for Trump's popularity to continue to drop and that there is a blue wave big enough to sweep Andy Ogles out of office, but the new maps make it much harder to unseat America's worst congressman. 

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Democrats Spar Over Electability at Tennessee Congressional District 7 Forum

Candidates for the Democratic nomination in Tennessee’s Congressional District 7 special election participated in a Nashville forum on Sept. 9. From left, Rep. Vincent Dixie, Rep. Aftyn Behn, businessman Darden Copeland and Rep. Bo Mitchell.

by Adam Friedman, Nashville Lookout, September 10, 2025 - Four people sit on stools on a stage. From left, a black man wearing glasses and a bow tie; a white woman with blond hair looks down at her notes; and two white men wearing ties sit next to each other.

The four Democrats vying for a GOP-held Middle Tennessee congressional seat agreed that December’s special election was about serving as a check on the Trump administration. But each one thought only they were the electable choice.

Primary voters will vote in a special election on Oct. 7 for the Tennessee 7th U.S. Congressional District triggered by the resignation of Mark Green.

On Tuesday, a coalition of progressive groups including TIRRC Votes, The Equity Alliance, The Central Labor Council and Planned Parenthood held a forum at Nashville’s First Baptist Church, Capitol Hill, with businessman Darden Copeland and Nashville state Reps. Aftyn Behn, Vincent Dixie and Bo Mitchell. 

Behn — who has been endorsed by Indivisible, a progressive political organizing group — said the only way a Democrat could win the seat was with energized turnout, which she could deliver by mobilizing voters with her progressive policies.

The 7th District’s primary election serves as the latest fight between the progressive wing of the party and moderate Democrats who vastly differ on how to win future elections.

Copeland, a first time candidate, said that whoever won the primary would face “a math problem,” mentioning he felt the need to run for the seat but didn’t specify how he would solve the problem. 

Since the district was redrawn in 2022, Green has defeated Democrats in back-to-back elections by 20%, with the Cook Political Report rating the seat as a “solid Republican.”

Dixie, a resident of the district’s North Nashville area, said winning the election would be about building a coalition and nominating someone who has lived the issues of the district.

Mitchell, a seven-term lawmaker from Dickson, said the race was about reaching out to rural voters, listening to them and convincing them to “quit voting against their self-interests.”

The district encompasses the western half of Middle Tennessee before taking a claw-like shape out of Nashville and Williamson County.

On the Republican side, nearly a dozen candidates are running for the nomination.

Americans for Prosperity Tennessee and SuperTalk 99.7 hosted a debate with Dickson state Rep. Jody Barrett, Brentwood state Rep. Gino Bulso, Franklin state Rep. Lee Reeves, and former Tennessee General Services Commissioner Matt Van Epps, the four candidates polling highest in a recent survey by AFP Tennessee. Very few issues separated the GOP candidates, all agreeing that their job in Congress would be to support President Trump.

The general election is on December 2.

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AOC Set to Campaign for TN-7 Democrat Aftyn Behn

by Rod Williams, Dec. 1, 2025 - Aftyn Behn the Democratic nominee for Tennessee’s 7th Congressional District, is set to hold a Get Out the Vote (GOTV) virtual rally tonight featuring special guests U.S. Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY-14). The event is hosted on Zoom tonight and will be held from 7 to 8:30 pm. 

I went to Behn's website and could not find any additional information about the event. She has a "News and Press Campaign Updates feature." but this event is not mentioned. I don't know how one goes about signing up for the event, not that I would.

The elections is tomorrow, Dec. 2nd. 

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Can Democrats flip Tennessee’s 7th Congressional District?

by Rod Williams, Oct. 31, 2025- The short answer is probably not, or it's not very likely, or it's a long shot. Bruce Barry, writing in the Tennessee Outlook analyzed the district and says, "Although it wasn’t redrawn until 2022, if you look at how the 2020 presidential race would have turned out in the 7th district’s current configuration, Joe Biden would have lost it to Donald Trump by 15 points, while in 2024 Kamala Harris lost to Trump there by 22 points." Further analysis by Barry shows that it would almost take a miracle for Aftyn Behn to beat Mark Van Epps but Barry doesn't say that. 

Anyone who follows politics could have reached the same conclusion as Barry and intuitively known it is a long shot for a Dem to take the 7th. Barry explains why and looks at some numbers. I don't know that a more moderate candidate could have had a better chance running against Van Epps, but I think Democratic primary voters chose the weakest of the field. I might have been tempted to vote for a more moderate Dem, or at least would have considered it. 

This is what Aftyn Behn thinks and wrote in 2019, and I think it shows how out of touch she is with the people she wants to represent: “Tennessee is a racist state. Racism is in the air we breathe, permeating the Tennessee State Capitol, codified in the legislation being passed at the detriment of women, communities of color, and the working poor.”

 I don't think this attitude is going to attract people who are not already predisposed to vote for her. Winning is about attracting people, not pushing them away. It is about addition, not subtraction. I am sure she thinks someone with my views is a racist. Despite my desire to see a House of Representatives that would be a check on Donald Trump, she does not make me want to vote for her. 

As Republicans continue to embrace Trump populism and move further to the right, instead of Democrats trying to recapture the center, which should be up for grabs, they move further to the left. Of course, that is where the energy is; there are few raging moderates. 

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Aftyn Behn Caught Saying She 'Hates' Nashville

Fox News 17, Nov. 23, 2025 - Democratic congressional hopeful Aftyn Behn did not hold back when describing how she really feels about Nashville — the city she’s now running to represent — in a 2020 podcast that’s resurfaced just days before the Dec. 2 special election. (link)

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Tennessee Dem Candidate Aftyn Behn: ‘I Don’t Want Children. I Want Power!’

 https://x.com/greg_price11/status/1993043067486527894?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1993043067486527894%7Ctwgr%5E405bbbe3c9f50560daef6c0f11ca512950f862ee%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.dailywire.com%2Fnews%2Ftennessee-dem-candidate-aftyn-behn-i-dont-want-children-i-want-power

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Why I Voted for Matt Van Epps

Matt Van Epps

by Rod Williams, Nov. 27, 2025- Yesterday was the last day to vote in early voting, and I voted, casting my ballot for Matt Van Epps. It was a difficult choice. If these were normal times, it would not have been difficult at all.  I would have voted for the Republican and not had to think twice about it. These are not normal times.

I actually like Matt Van Epps. I followed the Republican primary closely and voted for Van Epps. To me, he appeared the most thoughtful and traditional conservative of the pack. He struck me as the least Trumpy. However, Trump endorsed him, and Van Epps has given no indications that he would stand up to Trump in Congress. 

I have been disgusted with the performance of Congress. It refuses to stand up to Trump on much of anything. From Trump's imposing of tariffs, which is a power given to Congress, to conducting extrajudicial killing in the Caribbean without a Congressional authorization of the use of force, to affirming Trump's nut-job appointees, and much more, Congress has surrendered its authority to the President. The Republican Congress has been useless and complicit. 

Congress should be a check on the Presidency, and the Republicans in Congress have totally capitulated. They have not checked his authoritarianism nor his corruption. For these reasons, I have thought we needed a Democratic majority in Congress that would check Trump's abuse of power. Believing this, and seeing Trump as an existential threat to American Democracy, I was ready to vote for the Democratic nominee. 

The more I learned about the Democratic nominee, however, the more I realized I would have a hard time voting for her. Since I assumed the race would handily be won by Van Epps, I thought for a while I might just not vote. I have never just not voted that I can recall, and I thought that I should at least express my displeasure with the choices before us at the ballot box.  I thought that I might vote and write in my own name. I have done that before. I briefly thought that I might vote for one of the other candidates, just as a protest vote. I reached the conclusion that I would vote, but not vote for either Van Epps or Behn.

As it became clear the race was tightening, I had to reconsider and think more carefully about my vote. Before, my vote would not have really mattered but now it could matter a great deal.  For the reasons listed above, seeing the only way to curtail Trump's authoritarianism was by voting for a Democratic Congress, I again considered voting for the Democratic nominee. However, if Behn won, power in Congress would not change hands. With the announcement from Marjorie Taylor Greene that she should resign on January 5th, the potential for Democrats recapturing Congress became more of a possibility, however, still a remote possibility.  Even if Behn won and Greene resigned, Democrats would still be short two votes from regaining power and being able to be a check on Trump. 

I just couldn't do it. I could not vote for someone whose values I do not share when the vote would have little impact on curtailing Trump's authoritarianism, so I ended up voting for Van Epps. If the Democratic nominee had been a moderate Democrat, I would have voted for the Democrat. Unfortunately, the Democratic nominee is a radical, woke progressive with the endorsement of the Democratic Socialists. 

I would like to think that Democrats would do better if they nominated normal Democrats, but I am not sure that is true. I am beginning to think that there are too few moderate people left to make it worthwhile to try to appeal to the middle.  The energy seems to lie with the radicals. For the few like me who Democrats could pick up by choosing a less radical nominee, they would lose the energy of the more radical Democrat activists.  As a strategy, maybe moving left makes sense. I am beginning to think there is no middle in American politics anymore. There is no center-left or center-right; there are only the extremes. I am beginning to think that our choices in the midterm and beyond are going to be between the radical woke progressive socialist Democrats and the nationalists, populist, authoritarian Republicans. I don't like that, but I'm afraid that's where we are. 

While I want Congress to be a check on Trump, I cannot vote for a radical like Aftyn Behn, who was a community organizer for left-wing organizations, who has the endorsement of the Democratic Socialists of America, and who advocates sex change operations for children, defunding the police, hates Nashville, denigrates motherhood, and believes men can give birth.  I just can't do it. 

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TN-05 in Play if Chaz Molder is the Dem Nominee

 

by Emily Cochrane and Reid J. Epstein, New York Times, April 20, 2026- As the mule-drawn floats and carts lined up for the annual Mule Day parade in Columbia, Tenn., Mayor Chaz Molder, a Democratic donkey in conservative country, ....

That Mr. Ogles’s seat is even in the conversation is an indication of the political shape Republicans find themselves in as they approach the midterm elections. Anger over President Trump’s war in Iran, spiking gas prices and persistent affordability concerns have led to shifts of up to 20 percentage points in recent elections compared with the 2024 election that returned Mr. Trump to the White House.

Tennessee Republicans thought they drew a safe seat during the last redistricting cycle, .... (read it all)

Rod's Comment: I hope Molder wins the nomination. Ogles can be beaten if a sane moderate Dem like Molder is the nominee. If Dems want to lose this seat, then nominate some woke nut-job like Aftyn Behn. I could not bring myself to vote for Behn, although I want Dems to win the mid-term. I voted for Van Epps. Ogles is maybe the worse most Trumpy Republican in Congress. I am contributing to the Molder campaign. 

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Vote as if Donald Trump was on the Ballot.

by Rod Williams, Oct. 21, 2026- It is hard to absorb and keep track of all the despicable things the Trump administration is doing. Each day is a new outrage. Outrages mount so quickly that any one thing gets lost.  Whether it is the betrayal of Ukraine and openly siding with Putin, destroying NATO, wrecking the economy with tariffs, advancing Trump socialism, massive deficit spending, raiding homes without warrants, suppressing the press, meddling in the election process, selling pardons, using the power of the presidency for personal gain, or any number of other things, it is hard to focus on any one thing.

This has got to be curtailed. It won't end until Trump is out of office, but we can tamp it down. I have concluded that Democrats need to take Congress. This is not a recent conclusion, but I am now of the view that it is the most important consideration in these mid-term elections. The Trump corruption, mismanagement, and betrayal of the West are so severe that it is even necessary to elect the craziest of Democrats in order to clip Trump's wings. 

Some have said of me that I have changed and am now a liberal. I am not. I am a Buckley-Reagan conservative. I have not changed; It is the Republican Party that has changed. The Republican Party sold its soul and abandoned the things it once held dear. I think it is time for people of good faith and decency to abandon the Republicans, at least temporarily, until sanity is restored.

Back in December, when Democrat nut-job Aftyn Behn and Republican Matt Van Epps were running for the 7th Congressional seat, I voted for Van Epps. At that time, I thought it would be better for the country if Democrats took the House, but I could not bring myself to vote for Behn. If I had a do-over, I would vote for her. I don't like her. I do not share her policy preferences or her values, and I do share those of Van Epps, however, this is not about which candidate I like the most. It is not even a vote about policy preferences or ideology; it is about voting strategically. It is about voting as if Donald Trump were on the ballot, and I would vote against Donald Trump. Curtailing the power of Donald Trump to do more harm to our country is the most important issue in this election. 

If we do elect a few Socialists or other weird woke nut-jobs, they won't be able to accomplish anything anyway. The worst of the lot are a minority in their own party, and Dems will not get a veto-proof majority in any event.  They won't be able to pass Medicare for all, or defund the police, or close the prisons. What they will be able to do is hold hearings and investigate. They will be able to expose the recklessness, illegal actions, mismanagement, and corruption of the Trump administration. 

The greatest threat to our freedom, world peace, and prosperity is Donald Trump. It is time to hold your nose and vote for some odious Democrats in order to save our democracy. Vote as if Donald Trump were on the ballot. 

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Aftyn Behn Says Men Can Give Birth

" Behn, who is currently a Tennessee state representative for District 51 and is running for the U.S. Congressional seat left vacant by former Rep. Mark Green (R-TN), used the term “birthers” before clarifying “men and women who can give birth” while speaking on her podcast Grits. She made the comment before discussing a book by pro-abortion feminist Jenny Brown called Birth Strike, which argues that women should refuse to have children as a way to collectively bargain with the government and achieve their political aims." (link)

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