As a leader of the College Democrats at Vanderbilt University, Luci Wingo knew the odds of a Democrat winning one of Nashville's three U.S. House seats weren't great. Yet her hope grew as the party mounted an aggressive campaign for its candidate,

Republican Matt Van Epps of Tennessee was sworn Thursday as the newest House member, two days after winning a closely watched special election that helped maintain his party's slim grip on power.

This time, however, Republicans held the seat by nine percentage points—a good-not-great showing for Democrats in a conservative region.