WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Republican candidates are projected to win two special elections in Florida on Tuesday, according to projections by U.S. media organizations, boosting Republicans’ slim majority in the U.S. House of Representatives by filling vacancies created by President Donald Trump’s picks for cabinet posts.
The Republicans’ House majority will be 220 to 213 once the election results are confirmed in the two races and the new members are sworn into office. There are two vacancies after two Democratic lawmakers recently died.
Voters in strongly Republican districts voted for successors to former U.S. Representatives Mike Waltz, Trump’s national security adviser, and Matt Gaetz, who resigned after Trump tapped him to serve as attorney general, but withdrew from consideration in the face of opposition from his own party.
This was the first federal election since Trump took office on January 20, setting up a potential test of voter sentiment on a presidential agenda that includes slashing the government workforce and a crackdown on immigration. However, Republicans were expected to win the races due to the party’s popularity in these areas of Florida.
FLORIDA’S FIRST DISTRICT
Republican Jimmy Patronis, the state’s chief financial officer who was backed by Trump, is expected to win the district’s special election, according to an election projection by NBC News.
Patronis ran against Democrat Gay Valimont, a gun violence prevention activist, in the special election for the 1st congressional district in Florida’s panhandle, which includes Pensacola.
Democrats contributed more than $6 million to Valimont in the short election time frame, out-raising Patronis. However, in the November 2024 election, Gaetz beat Valimont with almost two-thirds of the vote.
FLORIDA’S SIXTH DISTRICT
Republican State Senator Randy Fine is expected to become the district’s next congressman, according to an election projection from NBC News. Fine will represent the state’s 6th congressional district in its northeast, which includes Daytona Beach.
Fine’s Democratic opponent was Josh Weil, a public school educator who significantly out-raised Fine with almost $9 million in contributions. Republicans were favored in the race as Waltz beat his Democratic opponent in the 2024 general election with more than 66% of the vote.
(Reporting by Bo Erickson; Editing by Scott Malone, Howard Goller and Nia Williams)
By Bo Erickson
