Aftyn Behn is the Democrat running to represent Tennessee in the district that covers Nashville, and, as with all AWFLs these days, she has been, in the past, very open about her left-wing tendencies.
So open that, before she became the candidate, she was quite open about hating the culture in her city.
🚨 Aftyn Behn-- the Democrat nominee for the upcoming TN07 special election-- says that she despises Nashville, the city that she's running to represent in Congress:
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) November 19, 2025
“I hate the city, I hate the bachelorettes, I hate the pedal taverns, I hate country music, I hate all of the… pic.twitter.com/L9lmo1YkkJ
Now, it turns out that Nashville's more liberal politics do not dominate the district, so it is actually quite red. It's not like Minnesota's 5th district, where the Blue urban area dominates so much that no Republican can win. In fact, it's quite a Red district, and hence not friendly territory for Democrats in normal elections.
But, this being a special election held on December 5th, Democrats are salivating at the prospect of winning a district in which Trump trounced Harris. Behn is their great liberal white female hope to snatch a victory from the Republicans.
Except...
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.
"I hate the city, I hate the bachelorettes, I hate the pedal taverns, I hate country music, I hate all of the things that make Nashville apparently an 'it' city to the rest of the country. But I hate it," she said in the podcast.
Behn, a Democratic state representative and former healthcare community organizer, is running against Republican nominee Matt Van Epps to represent Tennessee's 7th Congressional District. The winner will succeed former GOP Rep. Mark Green, who resigned from office in June to take a private sector job.
The district, which is located in central and western Tennessee and stretches from Kentucky to Alabama, is solidly red. President Donald Trump carried the district by 22 points in his 2024 White House victory.
But the district includes parts of the Democratic stronghold of Nashville, Tennessee's capital and its most populous city, and a major national center for the country music industry. The district encompasses parts of north and west Nashville, including the downtown area which has long been a very popular tourist destination.
"The Democrat running in a special election for Tennessee's 7th Congressional District, Aftyn Behn, is running on the message: 'I hate this place, elect me!' Tennessee deserves better," the Republican National Committee (RNC) argued in a social media post on Thursday.
Behn is disputing the claim that she hates the city and argues that taking her seriously is absurd on its face. She's even enjoyed a concert or two there.
Behn is considered by many Democrats as a rising progressive star who some have dubbed the "AOC of Tennessee."
Republicans are also taking aim at Behn over an op-ed titled "Tennessee is a racist state, and so is its legislature," that appeared in a 2019 edition of The Tennessean newspaper.
The RNC, pointing in a social media post Wednesday to the six-year-old opinion piece, asked, "If Behn hates Tennessee so much, why is she trying to represent it?"
Now it is hard to believe that a person running for office would lie, but given that she has in the recent past loudly proclaimed that she hates the city and believes that the entire state is a bastion of white supremacy, perhaps she is not being fully truthful. I know it is hard to believe, but there it is.
NO, I DO NOT HATE THE CITY I REPRESENT 🤣🤣🤣
— Aftyn Behn for Congress (@aftynfortn) November 21, 2025
The national GOP's new attack? That I “hate Nashville." I’ve cried in the Country Music Hall of Fame no less than 10 times. They’re panicking because we’re close to winning. Eyes on the prize, y’all. Let’s go. pic.twitter.com/jjwMnyW8ZU
Of course, since liberals also hold that words mean whatever they say they do, and without knowing the transitory state of mind at the time one utters the otherwise meaningless sounds, perhaps she really believes that she isn't lying, just applying Critical consciousness.
Unfortunately, as the Jay Jones controversy shows, in highly-charged elections where each campaign is really about picking sides independent of the candidate's opinions and qualities, the fact that Behn hates her potential constituents may not be an issue. People will march to the voting booth to fill that oval for a party, not a person.
Kate Briefs, campaign manager for Aftyn Behn for Congress, told Fox News Digital in a statement, "Republicans are panicking and in a last ditched attempt, they are distracting from the fact that Washington Republicans and Matt Van Epps are raising costs on Tennessee families and ripping away their health care while Aftyn Behn will lower Tennessee families' costs and make groceries more affordable by eliminating the state's grocery tax."
Van Epps, the former commissioner of the Tennessee Department of General Services, was endorsed by Trump, which boosted him to primary victory last month in an 11-candidate race for the Republican congressional nomination.
Democrats are itching to hurt Trump, and Republicans don't seem inclined to get off their behinds, so it's possible that Behn might win.
Or not. Her words do strike a chord in a way that Jones' might not. Jones, after all, was talking about another politician. Behn was actually insulting the people she wants to represent.
We'll have to see how this all plays out. But, if Behn wins in a district that Trump took by 22 points, it will not be good news.
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