WASHINGTON (AP) — More than a dozen candidates will compete for their parties’ nominations Tuesday to fill a vacant Tennessee congressional seat in the closely divided U.S. House.

The winners will face off in a Dec. 2 special election to replace Republican former U.S. Rep. Mark Green, who resigned in July to work in the private sector. The contest in the state’s reliably Republican 7th Congressional District will likely temporarily pad the House GOP’s narrow advantage in the chamber. A vacant seat in a heavily Democratic Houston-area district in Texas will be filled in November.

Among the 11 candidates seeking the Republican nomination are state Reps. Jody Barrett, Gino Bulso and Lee Reeves, former Tennessee Department of General Services Commissioner Matt Van Epps, who has endorsements

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