Republicans hold two seats in Florida congressional races, shoring up narrow House majority

By Steve Contorno, CNN

(CNN) — Republicans will hold onto two seats in their narrow House majority as former Florida state Sen. Randy Fine will win the special election for an open US House seat in Florida’s 6th Congressional District and Republican Jimmy Patronis will win Florida’s 1st Congressional District.

Fine will replace national security adviser Mike Waltz in the House, and Patronis fills a seat that has been vacant since mid-November, when Trump announced former Rep. Matt Gaetz as his initial choice for attorney general. Both wins will deliver much-needed reinforcements for House Speaker Mike Johnson’s narrow majority in the House of Representatives.

Few anticipated a competitive race for Waltz’s seat when he resigned in January. President Donald Trump won the district by 30 points in November, and Fine had Trump’s backing to succeed Waltz, an endorsement that carried him through the primary with few difficulties.

But Fine’s Democratic opponent, math teacher Josh Weil, sent shockwaves from Florida to Washington last month when he reported raising $10 million. Fine, meanwhile, managed to bring in about $1 million through mid-March and entered the final weeks of the race with about $93,000 on hand before he loaned his campaign $400,000.

The White House and House Republican leaders grew increasingly frustrated with Fine over what they saw as a lackluster campaign, fearing that a poor showing would fuel a narrative that voters were already souring on Trump. At one point, a top Trump adviser urged Fine to improve his political operation and fundraising and respond to Weil’s attacks on the airwaves, three people familiar with the conversation told CNN.

Trump staged a tele-rally on Thursday to help boost Fine in the closing days. Notably, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a popular figure among Republicans in his state, declined to back Fine and blamed the longtime lawmaker for the tighter-than-expected contest.

“It’s a reflection of the specific candidate,” DeSantis said. The two Republicans have had a contentious relationship ever since Fine flipped his support in the GOP presidential primary from DeSantis to Trump.

Fine carried other baggage into the race. He doesn’t live in the district he will now represent and has a history of controversial statements and local quarrels.

Still, national Democrats made minimal investments in the race, and few in the party seriously entertained the idea it could prove a surprise pickup.

Florida’s 1st Congressional District

Patronis, the former chief financial officer of Florida, defeated Democrat Gay Valimont in the race for the seat which been vacant since mid-November. Despite having won a fifth term earlier that month — defeating Valimont by a two-to-one margin — Gaetz resigned. The timing was notable: It came as the House Ethics Committee was about to release its investigation into Gaetz’s alleged drug activity and sexual exploits.

Over Trump’s objections, the House released its findings. The report said the committee found evidence the conservative firebrand paid tens of thousands of dollars to women for sex or drugs on at least 20 occasions, including paying a 17-year-old girl for sex in 2017. Gaetz denied the allegations but nevertheless withdrew his name from consideration to be Trump’s top prosecutor.

Patronis won Trump’s backing to replace Gaetz despite not living in the district, giving him the edge in a crowded field of Republican contenders. He earned about two-thirds of the vote in the GOP primary held in January, making him the odds-on favorite to capture a seat Trump carried in November by 37 points.

Valimont tried to cut into the GOP advantage in the district by campaigning aggressively against billionaire Elon Musk’s dismantling of the federal government via the Department of Government Efficiency. The district, home to the country’s largest Air Force base and other military installations, has a high concentration of veterans and government workers who could be affected by Musk’s cuts.

Patronis recently told WKRG, the local CBS affiliate, that he would stand up to Trump when necessary.

“If President Trump was going to make the argument that we needed to have massive base closures here in Northwest Florida, no, I couldn’t be with him,” Patronis said.

Patronis previously served in the Florida House of Representatives before running for chief financial officer, an elected Cabinet-level position in the state, in 2018. He won a second term as CFO in 2022.

This story has been updated with additional developments.

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