Trump allies avoid upsets as Republicans retain Florida House seats

TALLAHASSEE – Two Florida Republicans won congressional races in special elections on April 1, avoiding upset losses that could have narrowed the Republican Party’s control of the House of Representatives.

State Senator Randy Fine won the seat left open by National Security Adviser Michael Waltz in a largely conservative area that includes Daytona Beach on Florida’s north-east coast.

Mr Jimmy Patronis, Florida’s chief financial officer, will fill the seat previously held by Mr Matt Gaetz in the Florida Panhandle. Mr Gaetz gave up his seat after US President Donald Trump announced plans to name him attorney-general, but

withdrew before being nominated

.

Double-digit victories for Mr Patronis and Mr Fine, both endorsed by Mr Trump, suggest that voters in the solidly Republican districts were not put off by the President’s plans to impose sweeping tariffs, or his overhaul of the federal government that has resulted in tens of thousands of job losses.

Yet, Democratic challengers in both districts were able to roughly cut in half the margins of loss compared with the November general election results. That grants the party a glimmer of hope as it looks to regain the ground it lost in 2024 in the midterm elections in 2026.

“The numbers didn’t add up in our favour today,” Mr Fine’s opponent Josh Weil said in e-mailed comments.

“We shouldn’t be disappointed, however. This race was closer than anyone ever imagined. In a district won by Mike Waltz by 32 points, we closed that gap by a historic margin. An incredible gain,” he said.

Trade wars

or putting a chainsaw to federal government probably will not be blamed for the lower Republican numbers, however.

“Republicans are likely to argue it’s not a reflection of Trump policies, but the weakness of those individual candidates,” said Professor Aubrey Jewett, who teaches political science at the University of Central Florida.

Cracks are showing

Still, the wins will bolster the narrow Republican majority in the US House, which has caused difficulties in passing some major Bills early in Mr Trump’s second term, over opposition from hardline conservatives.

Losing either of the seats would have complicated the President’s legislative agenda on taxes, energy and immigration, and threatened to further destabilise House Speaker Mike Johnson’s control of the chamber.

Neither district was competitive in November’s general election – Republicans carried both of them with about two-thirds of the vote in November, while Mr Trump breezed to a win in Florida.

But there was some early concern about Mr Fine’s ability, in particular, to win confidently in the district held by Mr Waltz.

Both Mr Fine and Mr Patronis secured about 57 per cent of the vote in their districts, holding roughly a 15-point lead over their Democratic opponents, according to the Associated Press, with nearly all of the votes counted in each district.

Mr Trump congratulated Mr Fine in a Truth Social post on his win “against a massive CASH AVALANCHE” from Democrats.

Mr Fine is a Republican firebrand known for championing culture war issues like Florida’s so-called Don’t Say Gay Bill.

He sponsored the legislation that stripped Walt Disney World’s self-governing status after company leadership spoke out against the Bill.

He is currently working in the Florida Senate to revoke in-state tuition for undocumented college students and to lower the age to purchase firearms from 21 to 18.

Mr Patronis’ time overseeing Florida’s finances was marked by heated culture wars surrounding ESG, or environmental, social and governance investment principles.

He pulled US$2 billion (S$2.69 billion) in state assets from BlackRock and threatened to blacklist Wells Fargo & Company and Bank of America from state funds over the companies’ use of ESG investing.

He comes from the spring break capital of Panama City Beach, where his family owns a well-known seafood restaurant called Captain Anderson’s. BLOOMBERG