Republicans can breathe a sigh of relief that the Tennessee special election Tuesday went their way with the election of Matt Van Epps by a decent margin of 9 percentage points.

But there is little solace going forward when this solidly red district, won by former Rep. Mark E. Green and President Donald Trump by 22 points in 2024, shifted by 13 points.

This comes after poor Republican performances last month in Virginia and New Jersey, where both gubernatorial candidates lost by double digits and the margins in the elections for Republicans dropped by 17 points in Virginia and 11 points in New Jersey from 2021. In both cases, the Democratic candidates ran as moderates in what are admittedly blue states.

In this election, Van Epps was a good candidate in a good Republican area up against

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