Two special elections for safely Republican seats in Florida are shaping up to be races to see which candidate will be the Trumpiest.
The candidates who’ve announced they’ll run — to replace Rep. Mike Waltz and former Rep. Matt Gaetz in the coming year — are already starting to flaunt their conservative records and support of President-elect Donald Trump.
On Tuesday morning, Florida state Sen. Randy Fine announced his run for Congress in Florida’s 6th Congressional District in what’s gearing up to be one of two MAGA-y primaries in a state that has become a home base for much of the president-elect’s movement. The elections will take place within Trump’s first 100 days back in office.
“I believe that when President Trump was saved in Butler, he was saved so that he could save the world,” Fine said on Fox News. “And when he said he thought I could help him, I knew I didn’t have a choice.”
In announcing his run, Fine was playing catch-up to Trump, who endorsed him to replace Waltz over the weekend on Truth Social. Trump chose Waltz to be his national security adviser, and Waltz has officially submitted his letter of resignation.
“Should he decide to enter this Race, Randy Fine has my Complete and Total Endorsement,” Trump wrote. “RUN, RANDY, RUN!”
Trump also issued another endorsement for a Florida House seat over the weekend, backing Florida’s chief financial officer, Jimmy Patronis — who was rumored to be considering a 2026 gubernatorial run — to replace Gaetz.
Trump selected Gaetz as his attorney general pick, but Gaetz withdrew as he faced questions over his past conduct, including an alleged underage sex scandal (Gaetz denies the allegations). His seat is expected to be vacant.
Patronis responded to Trump’s endorsement Monday on X, saying, “Put me to work, Mr. President!”
But just because the two Republicans have Trump’s blessing doesn’t mean they’re in the clear.
“The president’s recommendation, no one’s ever going to discount that,” Vic Baker, the Republican State Committeeman in Volusia County, told NOTUS. “That’s very important, but that’s not necessarily going to be the be-all and end-all, and everybody knows it. Nothing’s guaranteed in life, so we wait and see.”
Baker pointed to a Florida race in August, where Trump-endorsed former Sheriff David Shoar lost to GOP state Rep. Tom Leek in a contentious and expensive state Senate primary.
Several names have been floated as potential candidates for Waltz’s seat, including Lake County GOP Chair Anthony Sabatini, former Flagler County Commissioner Joe Mullins and Jacksonville City Councilman Rory Diamond. U.S. Army veteran Ernest Audino was the first candidate to formally jump in the race and has been Waltz’s district director since 2018.
In Florida, Republicans said they are prepared for this to turn into a contentious primary because they’ve seen it before. They can even get “brutal,” said Denver Cook, the GOP chair in St. Johns County.
“We’re somewhat rebellious at the moment because we want effective change,” Cook said. “Very supportive of Trump, very supportive of the people he’s appointing, very America First, but at odds with the establishment political, where you pay for your campaign and you’re off. We’re tired of that.”
He added that he doesn’t expect people to “fall in line” for this primary, either.
Jeff Rawls, the outgoing GOP chair in Putnam County, said he sees the split in Washington of conservatives versus Republicans in Name Only, and flushing out the RINOs is a process that Republicans like him believe needs finishing.
“I personally would like to see somebody that is less of a politician and more of a get-it-done kind of person,” Rawls said.
The Florida Department of State said in a news release that the primary for Waltz’s seat will be held on Jan. 28, and the general election will be held on April 1. Meanwhile, in a similarly bright red district in northwest Florida, the special election to replace Gaetz is running on the same timeline.
Trump’s endorsement of Patronis nearly cleared the field: State House Rep. Michelle Salzman immediately dropped her bid for the seat, calling politics an “ever-changing chessboard.”
But self-proclaimed MAGA doctor, COVID-19 skeptic and local state House Rep. Joel Rudman announced his plan to stay in the race. “The good people here deserve a strong field of candidates,” he wrote on X Monday, “Not a coronation.”
Rudman told NOTUS he’s the “only natural choice to speak for the people” because he’s lived in the district for decades, but he’s facing a massive uphill battle pitching himself as the MAGA-iest candidate — without the MAGA leader on his side.
“This had to have been the worst game of chicken ever. You had a bunch of people who said they were going to stand up for the people, but when the going got tough, where are they?” Rudman told NOTUS between patient visits Monday. “I’m the only candidate who had the cojones to do what I did today.”
Another Floridian in the state’s congressional delegation, Sen. Marco Rubio, was selected for Trump’s cabinet for the role of secretary of state, but Gov. Ron DeSantis will appoint a temporary replacement until a special election in 2026.
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Em Luetkemeyer and Claire Heddles are NOTUS reporters and Allbritton Journalism Institute fellows.