Donald Trump celebrated two huge victories for his MAGA agenda after the Republicans held two Congressional seats in Florida in special elections.
On the eve of the president’s much-touted ‘Liberation Day’ on Wednesday, where the Republican is expected to announce broad tariff policies that will surely impact global markets that are already roiling, Trump has received good news.
Republicans Randy Fine and Jimmy Patronis are projected to win the races for Florida’s 1st and 6th Congressional Districts Tuesday evening.
Trump was thrilled with the news in a post to Truth Social shortly after they’d been declared winners.
‘BOTH FLORIDA HOUSE SEATS HAVE BEEN WON, BIG, BY THE REPUBLICAN CANDIDATE. THE TRUMP ENDORSEMENT, AS ALWAYS, PROVED FAR GREATER THAN THE DEMOCRATS FORCES OF EVIL. CONGRATULATIONS TO AMERICA!!!’
He singled out Fine for defeating Josh Weil, who had what Trump called a ‘cash avalanche.’
Weil spent nearly $8million more on the race than the incumbent Republican Fine.
The wins mean Trump’s agenda will more easily flow through the House of Representatives, which the GOP currently controls by a razor-thin margin of just a few votes.
President Donald Trump has been handed a victory after two Republicans won special elections in Florida on Tuesday evening
Florida lawmaker Randy Fine is projected to win Florida’s 6th Congressional District
Randy Fine, Republican nominee for 2025 Florida’s 6th congressional district special election, looks on, as Florida holds a special election for a U.S. House of Representatives seat vacated by National Security Adviser Michael Waltz, in Ormond Beach, Florida, U.S. April 1, 2025
Randy Fine won Florida‘s 6th Congressional District, according to the AP. The spot was vacated after President Donald Trump tapped National Security Adviser Mike Waltz for his Cabinet earlier this year.
Across the state in the 1st District, former state chief financial officer Jimmy Patronis defeated Democrat Gay Valimont. He will fill the seat vacated by embattled former Rep. Matt Gaetz who resigned after a bombshell sex scandal.
Fine’s victory is especially positive for the MAGA movement after the race there seemed to tighten ahead of Election Day, concerning some Republicans.
Republicans have received criticism for the race heating up toward the special election as Democratic fundraising surged.
Trump won Florida’s 6th Congressional District by a whopping 30 points in November.
But National Republican Congressional Committee Chairman Rich Hudson, R-N.C., told DailyMail.com before results were announced he was confident Republicans would come out on top.
‘I don’t think you’ll be up very late waiting on Florida. I think we’ll know the results pretty early, and I believe we’re going to win both seats.’
Both races were called within 30 minutes after polls closed.
‘Florida six will probably be closer than Florida one, but we’re confident we’re going to win,’ the NRCC chairman told DailyMail.com.
He noted Fine had a delayed campaign ad rollout, but that in the end he felt ‘very comfortable,’ adding, after all, ‘a win’s a win.’
‘Special elections are special,’ he said wryly. ‘You can’t compare the results of a special election to a normal election and try to draw any conclusions.’
Fine, 50, a state senator and former gambling executive with stints in Las Vegas and Detroit, overcame Democrat Josh Weil, 40, a single father and public school teacher.
Fine also had some concerns about his campaign to replace Waltz, who recently admitted he’s responsible for the White House‘s largest scandal yet after he accidentally included a journalist in a group chat on the messaging app Signal to discuss military airstrikes in the Middle East.
The former congressman and current national security adviser to Trump has been under extreme scrutiny as some on the left have called for him to be fired; the president so far has waved off those concerns.
Still, the race to fill the seat was much harder than anyone anticipated. Fine received around 55 percent of the vote to Weil’s 45 percent, with most of the votes counted.
‘You know, wins a win,’ Hudson told DailyMail.com. ‘I have acknowledged that our candidate in Florida six may have gotten a later start than we’d hoped in terms of advertising on TV, but he got on the air a couple weeks ago and has been up and and we’ve had a full turnout program.’
Patronis will fill the seat vacated by embattled former Rep. Matt Gaetz who resigned after a bombshell sex scandal
Florida Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis is projected to win Florida’s 1st Congressional District
Democratic nominee Josh Weil campaigns on election day near a polling station at the Palatka Women’s Club on April 1, 2025, in Palatka, Florida. Polls show that Mr. Weil was within the margin of error in his race against Fine
The special elections on Tuesday were to fill seats vacated by former Florida Republicans Matt Gaetz and Mike Waltz
Meanwhile, Patronis holding onto the deep-red 1st District will also shore up a crucial GOP vacancy.
The Republican will take the seat vacated by former Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz, who resigned from Congress after being involved in a sex and drug scandal involving a minor.
Gaetz, 42, who for a brief time was considered by President Donald Trump to be attorney general before his bid was scuttled, is married and post-Congress has begun hosting his own show on conservative broadcast channel OANN.
The allegations against Gaetz, which were unsealed after a contentious discussion in the House Ethics Committee, highlighted how the lawmaker allegedly paid for sex.
The additional Republican vote will enable the GOP in the House to navigate tough showdowns with Democrats over top Trump priorities like immigration and tax policy.
