2025 Florida's 1st congressional district special election
Special election following the resignation of Matt Gaetz
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The 2025 Florida's 1st congressional district special election was held on April 1, 2025, to fill a vacant seat in Florida's 1st congressional district previously occupied by Matt Gaetz, who resigned on November 13, 2024, after president-elect Donald Trump nominated him for attorney general of the United States.[2] Gaetz later withdrew his nomination for attorney general on November 21.[3] The following day, Gaetz announced he would not return to Congress. He had been reelected for a sixth term earlier in the month, but declined to take his seat. It was considered a safe Republican district.
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April 1, 2025[1]
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Florida's 1st congressional district | |||||||||||||||||
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Patronis: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90% 90%+ Valimont: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90% 90%+ | |||||||||||||||||
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The election was held alongside a concurrent special election for Florida's 6th congressional district. The race was called for Patronis almost immediately after polls closed.[4] Despite Patronis' victory, Democrats significantly improved their margins in this election, overperforming their 2024 result by 17.4 percentage points[5] and flipping Escambia County, Valimont's home county and home to Pensacola. Valimont became the first Democrat running for this district to win the county since Earl Hutto in 1992.[6] This is the strongest Democratic performance in this district during the 21st century.
District profile
The 1st district takes in the westernmost area of the Florida panhandle, encompassing Escambia, Santa Rosa, and Okaloosa counties, as well as about half of Walton County. A significant portion of the district's population are servicemen and women of the U.S. military, due in large part to the Naval Air Station near Pensacola and the nearby commuter towns of Navarre and Fort Walton Beach.
The district was given a Cook Partisan Voting Index rating of R+19 in 2022, making it the most Republican district in Florida.[7] In the 2024 presidential election, Donald Trump won the district with 68.1%, while then-incumbent Gaetz was re-elected with 66.0% of the vote in 2024.[8]
Republican primary
Candidates
Nominee
- Jimmy Patronis, former chief financial officer of Florida (2017–2025)[9]
Eliminated in primary
- Aaron Dimmock, director for leadership programs at the University of West Florida's AWKO Center for Leadership and candidate for this district in 2024[10]
- Kevin Gaffney, teacher[11]
- Jeff Macey, software engineer[10]
- Greg Merk, pilot and candidate for this district in 2020 and 2022[11]
- John Mills, businessman and candidate for this district in 2016, 2018, 2020, and 2022[10]
- Jeff Peacock, former policy director for U.S. representative Lee Zeldin[10]
- Joel Rudman, former state representative from the 3rd district (2022–2025)[12]
- Michael Dylan Thompson, attorney[13]
- Gene Valentino, former Escambia County commissioner[14]
Withdrawn
- John Frankman, former Green Beret (endorsed Patronis)[15]
- Keith Gross, former assistant state attorney for Florida's 18th circuit court and candidate for U.S. Senate in 2024 (endorsed Patronis)[15]
- Nathan Nelson, former director of military affairs for Matt Gaetz (endorsed Patronis)[16]
- Michelle Salzman, state representative from the 1st district (2020–present) (endorsed Patronis)[17]
- Jeff Witt, pilot (endorsed Patronis)[18]
Declined
- Alex Andrade, state representative from the 2nd district (2018–present)[19]
- Doug Broxson, former state senator from the 1st district (2016–2024)[20]
- Don Gaetz, state senator from the 1st district (2006–2016, 2024–present), former president of the Florida Senate (2012–2014), and father of Matt Gaetz[21]
- Matt Gaetz, former U.S. representative from this district (2017–2024)[22]
- Bernadette Pittman, construction company CEO (endorsed Rudman)[23]
- D. C. Reeves, Mayor of Pensacola (2022–present)[19]
- Frank White, former state representative from the 2nd district (2016–2018) (endorsed Patronis)[24]
Endorsements
- Executive branch officials
- Donald Trump, 45th and 47th president of the United States (2017–2021, 2025–present)[25]
- U.S. representatives
- Mike Johnson, Speaker of the United States House of Representatives (2023–present) from Louisiana's 4th congressional district (2017–present)[26]
- State legislators
- Michelle Salzman, state representative from the 1st district (2020–present)[17]
- Frank White, former state representative from the 2nd district (2016–2018)[24]
- County sheriffs
- Eric Aden, Okaloosa County (2021–present)[27]
- Michael Adkinson Jr., Walton County (2009–present)[27]
- Bob Johnson, Santa Rosa County (2017–present)[27]
- Chip Simmons, Escambia County (2021–present)[27]
- Organizations
- Executive branch officials
- Executive branch officials
- Robert Wilkie, former U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs (2018–2021)[31]
- Individuals
- Stanley Clarke, former director of the Air National Guard (2013–2015)[31]
- U.S. representatives
- Matt Gaetz, former U.S. representative from this district (2017–2024)[32]
- State legislators
- Don Gaetz, state senator from the 1st district (2006–2016, 2024–present), former president of the Florida Senate (2012–2014), and father of Matt Gaetz[32]
Results
- 60–70%
- 70–80%
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Jimmy Patronis | 33,742 | 65.7 | |
| Republican | Joel Rudman | 5,099 | 9.9 | |
| Republican | Aaron Dimmock | 3,423 | 6.7 | |
| Republican | Gene Valentino | 3,093 | 6.0 | |
| Republican | Michael Dylan Thompson | 2,548 | 5.0 | |
| Republican | Greg Merk | 1,287 | 2.5 | |
| Republican | Jeff Peacock | 743 | 1.4 | |
| Republican | Kevin Gaffney | 634 | 1.2 | |
| Republican | John Mills | 574 | 1.1 | |
| Republican | Jeff Macey | 187 | 0.4 | |
| Total votes | 51,330 | 100.0 | ||
Democratic primary
Candidates
Nominee
Endorsements
- Organizations
Others
Independents
Declared
- Stephen Broden, pastor, Constitution Party nominee for vice president in 2024, and Republican nominee for Texas's 30th congressional district in 2010[10]
Write-in candidates
Declared
General election
Fundraising
| Campaign finance reports as of March 12, 2025 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Raised | Spent | Cash on hand |
| Jimmy Patronis (R) | $2,126,409[a] | $1,311,824 | $814,585 |
| Gay Valimont (D) | $6,484,474 | $4,315,536 | $2,177,181 |
| Source: Federal Election Commission[36] | |||
Results
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Jimmy Patronis | 97,370 | 56.86% | −9.17% | |
| Democratic | Gay Valimont | 72,375 | 42.26% | +8.29% | |
| Independent | Stephen Broden | 1,384 | 0.81% | N/A | |
| Write-in | Stanley Gray | 88 | 0.05% | N/A | |
| Write-in | Stan McDaniels | 31 | 0.02% | N/A | |
| Total votes | 171,248 | 100% | |||
| Republican hold | |||||
By County
| County[37] | Jimmy Patronis Republican |
Gay Valimont Democratic |
Stephen Broden Independent |
Margin | Total votes cast | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | % | # | % | # | % | # | % | ||
| Escambia | 35,849 | 48.10% | 38,126 | 51.16% | 520 | 0.70% | 2,277 | 3.06% | 74,530 |
| Okaloosa | 26,047 | 60.78% | 16,407 | 38.28% | 375 | 0.88% | 9,640 | 22.50% | 42,857 |
| Santa Rosa | 27,038 | 63.90% | 14,774 | 34.92% | 443 | 1.05% | 12,264 | 28.98% | 42,310 |
| Walton | 8,436 | 73.03% | 3,068 | 26.56% | 46 | 0.40% | 5,368 | 46.47% | 11,551 |
| Totals | 97,370 | 56.86% | 72,375 | 42.26% | 1,384 | 0.81% | 24,995 | 14.60% | 171,248 |
See also
Notes
- $12,000 of this total was self-funded by Patronis