CNN’s Harry Enten Warns Tennessee Win Is ‘Bad Omen’ for GOP: ‘The Blue Wave is Building!’
CNN data analyst Harry Enten warned that the Republican victory in Tennessee’s 7th Congressional District was actually a “very bad omen” for the party and proof that something larger is stirring on the national stage – even if the seat didn’t flip.
The race that saw Republican Matt Van Epps win by 9 points over progressive state lawmaker Aftyn Behn is being touted as a symbol of momentum shifting ahead of 2026 — for Democrats.
Enten put it bluntly, relaying the statistics to host John Berman on Wednesday: “Republicans should be running for the hills this morning because the blue wave is building, my dear friend.”
His analysis was not about who won, but by how much. The district was one President Donald Trump carried by 22 points in 2024, 15 in 2020 and 17 in 2016. A nine-point win, Enten argued, is effectively a 13-point Democratic surge.
He continued: “Excuse time for Republicans is over because I hear all about these special elections – ‘Oh, the turnout’s so low. It’s not representative of what happened in the midterm election.’ The turnout last night in Tennessee, 7th district was equal to the turnout in the 2022 midterm election. So the blue wave, it seems to be building right out of the center of Tennessee.”
Berman pressed the point: “And it’s not just that it’s blue, it’s that it’s double digit blue.”
Enten agreed, repeating the take: “It is double, exactly right. It’s double digit blue. I will note I looked at the stats if in fact you had a 13-point shift like we saw in Tennessee, and you applied that to the 2024 presidential map. We are talking about a gain for Democrats of north of 40 seats.”
The warning grew sharper as he turned to electoral history.
“What happened last night in Tennessee ain’t just staying in Tennessee,” he said. “When a party outperformed in special elections since 2005, five out of five times, they went on to win a majority in the U.S. House of Representatives.”
“What happened last night in Tennessee is a very, very bad omen for Republicans and a very, very good omen for Democrats,” submitted Enten.
Watch above via CNN.
