Aftyn Behn, the Democratic nominee in the 7th Congressional District, launches a door knocking event with DNC Chair Ken Martin at Charlotte Park Elementary School in Nashville, Tennessee, on Nov. 8, 2025.

Tennessee voters are being bombarded with ads ahead of Tuesday's special election for an open U.S. House seat that slam Democratic nominee Aftyn Behn for "hating Nashville," voting against "the largest tax cut in state history" and bragging about “bullying” immigration officers.

Behn's comments are the centerpiece of attacks run by her Republican opponent, Matt Van Epps, and political action committees that support him.

Here's what to know.

Did Behn vote against a tax cut for families?

Ads paid for by MAGA Inc. PAC, run by allies of President Donald Trump, blast Behn’s 2024 vote against Tennessee’s "largest tax cut in state history" as “not just radical" but "stupid.”

Behn did vote against a Republican-backed state effort to give $2.1 billion in franchise tax cuts and refunds to businesses and corporations. While the reform is the largest single tax cut in Tennessee history, it did not offer any tax cuts for individuals.

Ultimately, the reform sent hundreds of millions in Tennessee tax refunds to out-of-state corporations and provided a tax refund to Republican Gov. Bill Lee's family company. Republicans blocked public disclosure of the amounts refunded to each corporation. Though repeatedly asked, state officials never provided any evidence of a legal necessity for the reform.

Behn campaigned for the state legislature on eliminating Tennessee’s 4% grocery tax ― one of the highest in the country ― and has repeatedly introduced legislation to do so.

Does Behn hate Nashville?

Behn has drawn national criticism for saying "I hate this city" on a 2020 podcast episode on the TN Holler network show GRITS.

Her comments came when Nashville was experiencing an explosion of "transportainment" businesses that operated with few rules as regulations for the industry were still being developed by the Metro Nashville Council. Before the city adopted new rules, transportainment vehicles were widely viewed as a nuisance, particularly among downtown residents.

"I've been heavily involved with the Nashville mayoral race because I hate this 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," Behn said.

She added: "I'm that girl at the airport that all these bachelorettes are walking out in their two-toned colored pantone pink shirts and they walk out, like, 'Oh my god! Nashville! It's so fabulous!' So I'm heavily involved in the mayoral race. For those of you not in Nashville, we have a pretty competitive race. It's honestly a bloodbath."

In response to out-of-context reporting on her comments, Behn clarified in a social media video that she does not hate the city that she currently represents.

"Today, the Republicans decided that they're going to start this narrative that me ― the state representative who represents downtown Nashville ― doesn't like the city," Behn said. "Now, I always want Nashville to be better, right? I want Nashville to be a place where working people can thrive. Sure, I get mad at the bachelorettes sometimes, I get mad at the pedal taverns. But you're talking to someone who has cried no less than 10 times in the Country Music Hall of Fame. A girl who just goes to the Ryman just to hang out. No. No. We're not even going to go there."

Did Behn bully ICE agents?

A Van Epps campaign ad slams Behn for comments she made during a live stream of interactions with law enforcement. In the selfie-style video, Behn says, “This is great … we’ve got our girl squad and we’re bullying ICE vehicles and state troopers … so this is like … this is a win.”

The video is a short clip of a late-night live stream Behn shared in May while observing and videoing Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations in her state House district in Nashville, an activity protected by the First Amendment. She says she started streaming shortly after being "boxed in" by two ICE vehicles and a state trooper, lights flashing. When she pulled over, she said, the trooper falsely accused her of running a red light and demanded to see her identification.

Behn said her use of the word “bully” in the video was satirical. She was not confrontational or aggressive with officers.

“We were pulled over. We were captive to these entities. We weren’t bullying them,” Behn told The Tennessean, a USA TODAY Network partner, in an interview.

She added: “We had been following highway patrol, and they allegedly said that we had run a red light at the time. They pulled us over into a Planet Fitness parking lot and the highway patrol was there and then two minutes later, ICE vehicles showed up. … They pulled us over instead of doing what they’re tasked to do.”

Why did Behn monitor immigration enforcement?

As a Tennessee state representative, Behn had surveyed her constituents and found high concern over racial profiling among Hispanic residents in local neighborhoods. She considered it “a mandate to do more.” She decided to monitor and document enforcement activities in her state House district.

“I witnessed a constituent of mine being pulled over, thrown into the back of a truck and an ICE officer drove off with their car,” she told The Tennessean. “It was just very surreal. … They were just gone into the black box that is our immigration system.”

“As an elected official, I’m documenting the comings and goings of this federal, unchecked federal agency that has expanded powers and is acting with impunity,” Behn said.

Behn has criticized the Trump administration’s “dragnet” approach to immigration stings, which she said “terrorize families, disrupt lives, and shatter trust between law enforcement and the communities they are supposed to serve.”

She denies that the video is mocking law enforcement.

“My constituents deserve due process in a country in which those rights seem diminishing,” Behn said. “They deserve elected officials who step up in big ways for them and leverage their position and power to defend their right to exist.”

Vivian Jones covers state government and politics for The Tennessean. Reach her at vjones@tennessean.com.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Does Aftyn Behn really hate Nashville, oppose tax cuts and bully ICE?

Reporting by Vivian Jones, USA TODAY NETWORK / Nashville Tennessean

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