U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) speaks on stage on the third day of the Republican National Convention on July 17, 2024, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
The GOP field of candidates who have filed to run for the congressional seat in Northwest Florida vacated by Matt Gaetz has expanded to six.
Kevin Gaffney, a teacher at Rocky Bayou Christian School in Niceville who describes himself as a “Reagan Republican” and a fiscal and social conservative, announced overnight that he is running in Florida’s 1st Congressional District.
(Photo from Kevin Gaffney’s campaign website)
According to his website, Gaffney has had several years of federal government experience, including work for the U.S. Attorney’s Office and DOJ Criminal Unit in Chicago, as well as the Department of Veterans Affairs, Office of General Counsel, also in Illinois. He also worked at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission in Washington, D.C.
Gaffney says he “fully supports President Trump and his policies going forward.”
Also getting into the race is Bernadette Pittman, owner and CEO of Pittman Marine LCC and owner and CEO of Boots on the Ground Bikers for Trump in Northwest Florida. She describes herself as a “staunch supporter” of both Donald Trump and Matt Gaetz.
Gaffney and Pittman join four other candidates who have announced for the Congressional District 1 seat that Gaetz resigned from last week after President-elect Trump announced he was nominating him to serve as attorney general. If he is confirmed by the Senate, Gaetz will succeed Attorney General Merrick Garland, who led the Department of Justice as it carried out a sex-trafficking investigation into the congressman.
Although the Justice Department dropped that investigation, the House Ethics Committee has continued to look into allegations of sexual misconduct and illicit drug use by Gaetz. The committee failed to reach an agreement Wednesday about whether to release that report to the public.
The other candidates include Northwest Florida House Republican Reps. Michelle Salzman and Dr. Joel Rudman, as well as former U.S. Senate candidate Keith Gross and John Frankman. He’s a former Green Beret who left the service rather than abide by the military’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate.
Florida Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis has also hinted that he may enter the contest.
One Democrat has filed to run: gun safety advocate Gay Valimont, who lost to Gaetz in the general election in the overwhelmingly conservative district by more than 30 points earlier this month.
Florida Secretary of State Cord Byrd said last week that his office would soon post a schedule for U.S. House special elections “ensure these special elections are conducted as soon as possible.” Rudman and Salzman will both have to resign from their House positions to run for the seat.
Senior reporter Christine Sexton contributed to this story.