Key congressional seats up for grabs in special elections as GOP holds slim House majority
TAMPA, Fla. - Voters in parts of Florida are heading to the polls on Tuesday to fill two congressional seats recently vacated by Republicans.
The GOP holds a five-seat edge over Democrats in the U.S. House, with four vacancies nationwide, including the two in Florida.
District 1 & District 6 races
The backstory:
District 1, which covers the western portion of the Florida Panhandle, was previously represented by former Rep. Matt Gaetz, who resigned from Congress in late 2024.
Republican Jimmy Patronis, Florida’s chief financial officer, faced off and won against Democrat Gay Valimont, a gun control activist.
In District 1, Democrat Gay Valimont, a gun control activist, lost to Republican Jimmy Patronis, Florida’s chief financial officer.
District 6, which includes parts of St. Johns County and all of Putnam County, saw its congressional seat vacated when former Rep. Michael Waltz became President Donald Trump's national security advisor.
Republican State Sen. Randy Fine won that race against against Democrat Josh Weil, a public school educator.
In District 6, Democrat Josh Weil, a public school educator, lost against Republican State Sen. Randy Fine.
What they're saying:
"I think it's physically impossible for someone, as long as you put an R by your name, to not win," said Gov. Ron DeSantis.
In the Pensacola-area district, Democrat Gay Valimont raised $6.5 million to run TV ads, three times as much as Patronis.
In the Palm Coast-area district, Joshua Weil has raised $10 million.
Republican strategists have expressed some alarm over how close these races may have become, especially in District 6, where Weil has outraised Fine by a 10-1 margin.
While recent polling suggests the race could be close, analysts caution against reading too much into those numbers in districts where Trump won by more than 30 points in November 2024.
"These special elections are very weird," said Dr. Michael Binder, faculty director of the Public Opinion Research Lab at the University of North Florida. "It’s difficult to lean on historical voter turnout trends and figuring out who’s ultimately going to show up."
READ: Governor DeSantis proposes eliminating property taxes in Florida
Still, the polls and fundraising numbers have stoked nerves among Republican strategists. Fine, specifically, has been called out by top officials in his party.
Democrats are hoping Trump and DOGE sidekick Elon Musk, with talk of federal job cuts and sloppy messages about military operations, rubbed even some Republicans the wrong way.
"What these elections are doing is showing, one, how Democrats are able to compete in even the most ruby of red areas," said Florida Democratic Party Chair Nikki Fried, "how we're able to build a coalition of Democrats, Republicans, independents, Americans that are saying, this is not what we voted for."
Democratic Party leaders remain tempered, though, when it comes to their ability to pull off an upset in either race.
What's next:
Polls opened on Tuesday at 7 a.m. ET in the 6th District and 8 a.m. ET in the 1st District, with voting closing at 7 p.m. ET in the 6th District and 8 p.m. ET in the 1st District.
The Source: Information for this story was gathered by FOX 13's Kellie Cowan.
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