U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz is photographed inside the Rayburn House Office Building Feb. 27, 2019. Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)
Whether Matt Gaetz ever becomes attorney general of the United States, he no longer represents Florida’s 1st Congressional District, having resigned from the seat last week following Donald Trump’s announcement that he was nominating him to lead the U.S. Justice Department.
Now a bevy of Republicans are announcing their candidacies to succeed him.
One of them is Escambia County’s Michelle Salzman, a fiercely conservative member of the Florida House who was re-elected earlier this month.
“I am making my intentions to run for Congress by filing today I want to do what is best for our country and helping President Trump with the Make America Great Again Agenda! @realDonaldTrump,” she wrote on X on Tuesday.
Also about to throw his hat into the ring is Florida Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis, also from the Panhandle, who had been rumored to be considering a run for governor in 2026.
“I am strongly considering running for Florida Congressional District 1. We’ve got an historic opportunity to fight the swamp, end lawfare and return power back into the hands of Americans,” Patronis said on X Tuesday afternoon.
Two other Northwest Florida Republicans have previously announced their candidacies for the seat, including John Frankman, a Green Beret who served eight years in the U.S. Army before his career ended — according to his website — when he stood against the COVID-19 vaccine mandate, “a decision he calls his proudest moment in uniform.”
Also now running is Keith Gross, who ran a distant second in challenging Rick Scott for the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate in August.
One Democrat who has announced her candidacy for the seat. She is Gay Valimont, who lost against Gaetz in the general election earlier this month for District 1, considered the most conservative leaning in the state.
Gaetz defeated Valmont, 66%-34%, on Nov. 5.
Florida Secretary of State Cord Byrd said last week that his office would have a schedule for U.S. House special elections “posted soon” to “ensure these special elections are conducted as soon as possible.”