Republicans would not usually need to worry about a special election in Tennessee's 7th Congressional District.
Stretching from the suburbs of Nashville to rural areas on the border of Alabama, the ruby-red district went for Donald Trump by 22 points in the last election and helped launch the career of Republican Sen. Marsha Blackburn.
But the retirement of incumbent Rep. Mark Green has led to the state's first House special election in four decades today, and the president appears nervous.
On Sunday, Trump claimed on social media without evidence that Democratic state Sen. Aftyn Behn "hates Christianity, will take away your guns, wants Open Borders, Transgender for everybody, men in women's sports, and openly disdains Country music."
And Monday night, on the eve of the election, Trump spoke virtually at multiple campaign events for Republican nominee Matt Van Epps, a ratcheting up of his involvement in a race that historically is not competitive.
To be clear, Van Epps is the favorite to win, but Democrats think Behn may be able to cut the margin to perhaps 10 points.
After the party's successes in November's elections, that would be yet another sign of a Democratic wave coming in the congressional midterms.
Read Nnamdi Egwuonwu's full analysis here.
