A slate of congressional hopefuls are vying to win their Florida primaries in special elections to replace two high-profile House Republicans.
Donald Trump’s power to pick political winners in his adopted home state gets another test Tuesday with special election primaries for the seats left vacant by former Republican congressmen Mike Waltz and Matt Gaetz.
Gaetz resigned his post last year after he was nominated to be Trump's attorney general, and before he withdrew his name from consideration. Waltz resigned his post last week to serve as Trump’s national security adviser.
President Donald Trump-endorsed candidates Randy Fine and Jimmy Patronis handily won Republican primaries Tuesday in special elections for seats in districts vacated by former Florida Congressmen Mike Waltz and Matt Gaetz.
Randy Fine won Tuesday’s Republican primary for Florida’s 6th Congressional District, beating Aaron Baker and Ehsan Joarder.
Update: Jimmy Patronis and Randy Fine swept their respective primaries in congressional special elections. Patronis had 65.6% of the vote in CD 1 with 65% of the vote counted. There was no Democratic primary so Patronis will face Gay Valimont.
Both Republicans will now advance to the April 1 special election, where they are expected to be heavy favorites in the solid GOP districts.
The two candidates will move on to special general elections on April 1, when they will be strongly favored to expand the Republicans’ slim House majority.
Special primaries in two conservative Florida districts will take place Tuesday to replace former U.S. Reps. Matt Gaetz and Mike Waltz.
The Associated Press projected that Republicans Randy Fine and Jimmy Patronis easily won primaries in the seats once represented by Mike Waltz and Matt Gaetz.
Fine, who is backed by President Donald Trump, House Speaker Mike Johnson, and former Rep. Mike Waltz , had a prohibitive cash edge, with $426,712 raised through Jan. 8, according to Federal Election Commission records. More than $355,000 of that comes from individual contributions, and the other $70,000-plus stems from committee cash.
House Republicans are one step closer to a full majority with the Florida primary wins of Jimmy Patronis and Randy Fine to fill the seats of former Reps. Matt Gaetz