A narrow Republican win in a deep-red district has turned what should have been a routine special election into a political siren, according to two prominent pollsters.

A race the GOP typically carries by more than 20 points tightened to single digits last month, underscoring how the president’s record-low approval rating and voter frustration over affordability are reverberating through even what was thought to be the safest terrain.

While Matt Van Epps, a Trump-endorsed Army veteran and former state commissioner, defeated Democratic State Representative Aftyn Behn in Tennessee’s 7th Congressional District, it was a little too close for comfort, according to Democratic pollsters Douglas E. Schoen and Carly Cooperman.

The pair argues that the Tennessee contest reveals a broader struct

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