Darden Copeland
Darden Copeland (Democratic Party) is running for election to the U.S. House to represent Tennessee's 7th Congressional District. He is on the ballot in the general election on November 3, 2026. He advanced from the Democratic primary on August 6, 2026.
Biography
Darden Copeland was born in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. His career experience includes working as a founder and CEO.[1]
Elections
2026
See also: Tennessee's 7th Congressional District election, 2026
Tennessee's 7th Congressional District election, 2026 (August 6 Democratic primary)
Tennessee's 7th Congressional District election, 2026 (August 6 Republican primary)
General election
The general election will occur on November 3, 2026.
The candidate list in this election may not be complete.
General election for U.S. House Tennessee District 7
Incumbent Matt Van Epps (R), Darden Copeland (D), Andrew Koontz (Independent), and Lowell Reynolds (Independent) are running in the general election for U.S. House Tennessee District 7 on November 3, 2026.
Candidate | ||
 | Matt Van Epps (R) | |
 | Darden Copeland (D) | |
| Andrew Koontz (Independent) | ||
 | Lowell Reynolds (Independent)  | |
| ||||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Jonathan Thorp (Independent)
Democratic primary
Democratic primary for U.S. House Tennessee District 7
Darden Copeland (D) defeated Vincent Dixie (D), Saletta Holloway (D), Lore Bergman (D), and Joshua Sales (D) in the Democratic primary for U.S. House Tennessee District 7 on August 6, 2026.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Darden Copeland | 32.7 | 16,641 |
 | Vincent Dixie | 22.3 | 11,385 | |
 | Saletta Holloway | 19.6 | 9,980 | |
 | Lore Bergman (Write-in) | 18.1 | 9,216 | |
 | Joshua Sales | 7.3 | 3,741 | |
| Total votes: 50,963 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Aftyn Behn (D)
- David Jones (D)
Republican primary
Republican primary for U.S. House Tennessee District 7
Incumbent Matt Van Epps (R) advanced from the Republican primary for U.S. House Tennessee District 7 on August 6, 2026.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Matt Van Epps | 100.0 | 60,030 |
| Total votes: 60,030 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Jason Knight (R)
- Stewart Parks (R)
- Jay Reedy (R)
Endorsements
Darden Copeland received the following endorsements. To send us additional endorsements, click here.
2025
See also: Tennessee's 7th Congressional District special election, 2025
Tennessee's 7th Congressional District special election, 2025 (October 7 Republican primary)
Tennessee's 7th Congressional District special election, 2025 (October 7 Democratic primary)
General election
Special general election for U.S. House Tennessee District 7
The following candidates ran in the special general election for U.S. House Tennessee District 7 on December 2, 2025.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Matt Van Epps (R) | 53.9 | 97,034 |
 | Aftyn Behn (D) | 45.1 | 81,109 | |
 | Jonathan Thorp (Independent) | 0.5 | 932 | |
 | Teresa Christie (Independent) | 0.3 | 610 | |
| Bobby Dodge (Independent) | 0.1 | 198 | ||
 | Robert James Sutherby (Independent) | 0.1 | 129 | |
| Total votes: 180,012 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Steven Hooper (Independent)
- Scerick Richard Longcope (Independent)
- David Richard Holbert (Independent)
- Caleb Stack (Independent)
Democratic primary election
Special Democratic primary for U.S. House Tennessee District 7
Aftyn Behn defeated Darden Copeland, Bo Mitchell, and Vincent Dixie in the special Democratic primary for U.S. House Tennessee District 7 on October 7, 2025.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Aftyn Behn | 27.9 | 8,653 |
| Darden Copeland | 24.9 | 7,720 | |
 | Bo Mitchell | 24.2 | 7,498 | |
| Vincent Dixie | 23.1 | 7,153 | |
| Total votes: 31,024 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Joy Davis (D)
Republican primary election
Special Republican primary for U.S. House Tennessee District 7
The following candidates ran in the special Republican primary for U.S. House Tennessee District 7 on October 7, 2025.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Matt Van Epps | 51.6 | 19,006 |
 | Jody Barrett | 25.3 | 9,337 | |
 | Gino Bulso | 10.9 | 4,005 | |
 | Lee Reeves | 5.2 | 1,929 | |
 | Mason Foley | 2.8 | 1,022 | |
 | Stewart Parks | 1.6 | 595 | |
 | Jason Knight | 1.0 | 381 | |
 | Stuart Cooper (Unofficially withdrew) | 0.6 | 239 | |
 | Tres Wittum | 0.4 | 133 | |
 | Joe Leurs | 0.3 | 122 | |
 | Adolph Agbéko Dagan | 0.3 | 93 | |
| Total votes: 36,862 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Robert James Sutherby (R)
- Brandon Ogles (R)
- Eddie Lee Murphy (R)
- John Wilt (R)
- John Wesley Smith IV (R)
- Michael Vogel (R)
- Noah Cline (R)
- Robby Moore (R)
Endorsements
Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Copeland in this election.
Campaign themes
2026
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Darden Copeland has not yet completed Ballotpedia's 2026 Candidate Connection survey. Send a message to Darden Copeland asking him to fill out the survey. If you are Darden Copeland, click here to fill out Ballotpedia's 2026 Candidate Connection survey.
Who fills out Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey?
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You can ask Darden Copeland to fill out this survey by using the buttons below or emailing info@dardenforcongress.com.
2025
Darden Copeland completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2025. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Copeland's responses.
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Earlier in his career, Darden served as a campaign manager and political strategist on a number of congressional and presidential campaigns, where he gained experience in grassroots organizing, coalition building, and electoral communications. These experiences laid the foundation for his later work bridging public policy, commercial interests, and civic engagement.
Beyond his professional work, Darden and his wife have purchased and renovated several historic properties in Nashville, reflecting his long-standing commitment to architectural heritage, adaptive re-use, and urban revitalization. He sits on the board of Historic Nashville, Inc. a non-profit 501(c)3 with a mission to promote and preserve the historic places that make Nashville unique. He also sits on the board of the Nashville Wine Auction, which raises money for local cancer charities.
Darden loves spending time with his wife, Natalie, their two kids, and rescue dog, Kathy. They are active members of Woodmont Christian Church, where Darden serves as an Elder, and both served as Youth Group Leaders for nearly a decade. Darden enjoys live music, stand-up comedy, and coaching his kids sports t- If we're going to change the tone in Washington we need to change who we send to Washington. I'm not a career politician. I've never run for political office or been elected to anything other than Elder at my church. We need a consensus builder who will reach across the aisle when it means getting results for the working families and constituents in District 7.
- I'm running in this special election to fill the vacancy left by Mark Green's abrupt resignation at a time when we need more checks and balances. This country was founded on it, but we currently have ceded too much control to one individual. We need a strong Democrat that isn't afraid to stand up to the party and people in power and force them to come to the table and negotiate. I'm tired of Republicans who won't stand up to Trump, and politicians who don't stand up for anything.
- At this moment in this district, it's important we nominate a Democrat who has a track record of winning and getting results. We have to send a different kind of Democrat to face off with whichever Trump-First Republican they nominate. I have that record of success. We can't govern if we can't win.
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
Campaign finance summary
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
See also
2026 Elections
External links
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Candidate U.S. House Tennessee District 7 |
Personal |
Footnotes
- ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on September 6, 2025
