ORMOND BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Republicans Jimmy Patronis and Randy Fine won special elections Tuesday in two Florida congressional districts, bolstered by President Donald Trump’s endorsement to fill vacant seats in reliably Republican strongholds.
Patronis, the state’s chief financial officer, fended off a challenge from Democrat Gay Valimont even though she far outraised and outspent him. He will fill the northwest Florida 1st District seat vacated by former Rep. Matt Gaetz, who was chosen to be Trump’s attorney general but withdrew from consideration amid allegations of sexual misconduct, which he has denied.
It’s Florida. This was predetermined, but the fact that it wasn’t a landslide is actually significant. Populism gave him the office, populism can take it away. He’s trying desperately to take the power away from the people who put him there and they’re finally noticing. We can be angry at those people all we want, but it will be far more productive to find a coalition with them than to resent and perpetually admonish them.