US Rep. Mark Greene addressed supporters of the Montgomery County Republican Party on November 5, 2024 (Photo: Anita Wadwani/Tennessee Lookout)

The list of special election candidates to replace U.S. lawmakers has grown after the second decision to end their term before it ends in 2026, confirming that one person will run for a seat.

Tennessee Director Matt Van Epps announced Tuesday that he would be looking for a seat in the 7th Congressional District, sparking Green’s departure plans.

“Rep. Green is an American patriot who served our nation on the battlefield and the Tennessees in the halls of Congress,” Van Epps said in the release. “From West Point grades to another grade, I commend Congressman Green for his conservative legacy and his commitment to moving forward President Trump’s first American agenda on behalf of Tennessee.”

Van Epps graduated from West Point and served in multiple battle deployments as a helicopter pilot in the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment based in Clarksville. He continues to serve in the Tennessee Army National Guard. A Nashville resident, he was previously vice president of operations at Main Street Health, a rural healthcare company.

Tennessee Sen. Bill Powers and state Sen. Jody Barrett and former state Sen. Brandon Ogres said they were looking at the watch candidates on Tuesday.

Powers, a Republican from Clarksville, said he is “seriously considering” the run of the 7th Congressional District seat after Green announced that he would resign from the post when he voted for President Donald Trump’s budget and domestic policy bill.

“This is not something I take lightly, I’m talking to family and friends because I carefully consider this major decision,” Senator Powers, second term, said in a text message. “We need someone to support conservative leadership and the president’s agenda, and I’m ready to do that.”

Barrett, a Republican of Dixon, has consistently stated that he “has no fiery desire to climb political ladders or reach the next proverb,” ​​but left the door open for candidacy amid the public support.

“If I ran for Congress, that would be the same reason I decided to run for state representative. My family and I are overwhelmed by the support and encouragement from the entire Seventh Congress district to help me jump into this race, but I have not continued to escape impulsive or self-interest, his second House period.

Ogles, who served two terms at home before choosing not to seek reelection, told the watchman that he and his family were praying about a potential run. His cousin, U.S. Rep. Andy Ogres, represents Tennessee’s 5th Congressional District.

Others mentioned in the election include Gino Bruso, a Republican Rep. of Brentwood, who could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

Green, chairman of the U.S. Homeland Security Committee, announced that he would leave his US home in February 2024 but would be destroyed within two weeks. He and his wife publicly said he had begun carousing in Washington, D.C. with members of Congress, so he had been robbed of the dog at that time by the revelation that he and his wife had been experiencing divorce.

Trump chose Green, a West Point alumnus, to serve as Secretary of Army in 2017. However, he disappointed him with support regarding his stance on vaccines and whether former President Barack Obama was a US citizen or a Muslim, and he withdraws from consideration.

Green said this week that he decided to step down from Congress because private sector opportunities were “not too exciting.”

His vote is expected to be important in passing Trump’s budget plan, as Republicans make up a majority of the small homes.

District 7 includes 14 counties in central and west and west Tennessee, with more than half of the vote coming from Davidson, Montgomery and Williamson counties. The district was redrawn after the 2020 census and picked up more democratic territory, including parts of Nashville, but is still considered a safe seat for the Republican Party by culinary political reports offering a nonpartisan analysis of federal campaigns and elections.