House GOP leaders are trying to steady their restive conference as they seek to avert disaster in a Tennessee special election for a ruby-red GOP-controlled seat on Tuesday night.
NRCC Chair Richard Hudson told House Republicans in their closed-door meeting Tuesday morning that Republican Matt Van Epps will win the race. But he also said members need to remember special elections are special, according to four people in the room, all of whom were granted anonymity to discuss the private meeting.
National Republicans have had to intervene to attempt to rescue Van Epps from a potential defeat in Tennessee’s 7th Congressional District, a conservative stronghold President Donald Trump won by more than 20 points.
The race between Van Epps and Democrat Aftyn Behn has attracted millions in outside spending from both sides, despite the typically uncompetitive nature of the district.
Republicans in the room for Hudson’s remarks Tuesday morning, however, did not feel much better about the state of the conference and the special election ahead of next year’s midterms.
“It was not overly comforting,” one House Republican who attended the meeting said, noting that some GOP members quietly glanced over at each other as the North Carolina congressman argued a win is a win.
Another House Republican predicted the GOP conference would spend some time reeling from the fallout of the race, given that it shouldn’t have been competitive in the first place.
“If our victory margin is single digits, the conference may come unhinged,” one senior House Republican said. A loss would be catastrophic and the conference would “explode,” the Republican added.
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