Trump-endorsed Republican state Sen. Randy Fine emerged victorious in one-of-two special elections in the Sunshine State on Tuesday night.
Finel will be taking over former Congressman Mike Waltz’s seat in Florida’s 6th Congressional District, after Waltz vacated the seat to become President Donald Trump’s National Security Advisor.
Fine outlasted Democrat Josh Weil, a public school employee and political newcomer who raised nearly 10 times more than Fine.
Florida’s sixth district, located on the Sunshine State’s Atlantic coast from Daytona Beach to just south of Saint Augustine and inland to the outskirts of Ocala, was carried overwhelmingly by former GOP congressman Waltz in 2024.
President Trump also won the 6th Congressional District in 2024 by a significant margin – 30 points.
The Republican’s victory came in the closest election for Florida’s sixth district since 2018, when former Congressman Waltz beat out his Democrat opponent by13 points. Each subsequent election, Waltz won at least 60% of the vote.
Tuesday’s unusually close race, widely seen as a referendum on President Trump’s first few months in office, carries implications for the broader battle for power in Congress.
There were fears that a loss in both, or either, of Florida’s Tuesday special elections would