Photo taken from Jimmy Patronis Facebook page.
The process of replacing Florida Republicans Matt Gaetz and Mike Waltz in Congress begins today with primary elections in both of their now former congressional districts.
In Gaetz’ 1st Congressional District, which encompasses the western Florida Panhandle, a crowded 10-person Republican primary is taking place, with Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis considered the favorite after receiving the backing of President Donald Trump.
Other major candidates in that race include state Rep. Dr. Joel Rudman and retired Navy Commander Aaron Dimmock, who finished a distant second to Gaetz in the 2024 GOP primary election last year.
The winner will take on gun safety advocate Gay Valimont, who is running unopposed in the Democratic primary. Valimont lost to Gaetz by more than 30 percentage points in November in what is considered the most conservative district in the state.
Trump endorsed Patronis shortly after the seat became vacant when Gaetz was nominated by the president to become attorney general, and he doubled down on his support on Saturday, writing on Truth Social, “Jimmy Patronis, Chief Financial Officer and Fire Marshall for the Great State of Florida, is running an incredible Campaign for Congress in Florida’s 1st Congressional District! ”
The other congressional primary election taking place on Tuesday is in Florida’s 6th Congressional District, another conservative stronghold on the Atlantic Coast that includes Daytona Beach. That’s the seat held by Mike Waltz since 2018. Trump selected Waltz as his national security adviser.
In that race, Trump has endorsed Florida Republican Sen. Randy Fine, who is running in the GOP primary against Aaron Baker and Ethan Joarder, who finished in third place in a Republican congressional primary in Florida’s 14th District in the Tampa Bay area last August.
The Democratic primary in CD 6 features educator Josh Weil, who announced last week that he had raised more than $500,000 in his campaign. He is running against George “Ges” Selmont, who ran and lost as a Democrat against Republican John Rutherford in Florida’s 4th Congressional District in 2018.
“A highly successful, Harvard educated businessman, and greatly respected State Legislator, Randy has been a tremendous Voice for MAGA,” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Saturday.
The winners of the primaries will compete in a general election scheduled for April 1. With both seats expected to remain in Republican hands, House Speaker Mike Johnson is eagerly awaiting the completion of those races to get more Republicans in D.C.
With former New York U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik being confirmed as the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Republicans now only hold a two-vote advantage in Congress, 217-215.
Meanwhile, with Rudman and Fine having resigned or about to resign from their legislative seats, Gov. Ron DeSantis issued executive orders last week announcing the election dates for those seats.
In both the House District 3 seat in Northwest Florida that had been held by Rudman and the state Senate District 3 seat to be vacated by Fine on March 31, DeSantis announced that there will be a primary election in both seats on April 1. The special general elections for those seats will take place on June 10.
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