Randy Fine wins Florida’s 6th Congressional District special election

Republican state Sen. Randy Fine won Tuesday’s special election in Florida’s 6th Congressional District to fill the seat that Michael Waltz vacated to serve as President Trump’s national security adviser.

Mr. Fine defeated Democrat Josh Weil, whose strong fundraising gave Democrats a glimmer of hope he could pull off the upset in the deep-red northeast Florida district, which Mr. Trump carried by 30 percentage points in 2024.

With 82% of the vote reported within an hour of polls closing, Mr. Fine held a 53.8% to 45.5% lead over Mr. Weil, with the rest of the vote going to Libertarian Andrew Parrott and independent Randall Terry.

The National Republican Congressional Committee, the House GOP’s campaign arm, congratulated Mr. Fine.

“As a third-generation Floridian, self-made businessman, and as a State Representative and State Senator, Randy has a proven record of delivering results for his community,” NRCC Spokeswoman Maureen O’Toole said in a statement. “No one is better positioned to take up the mantle for Florida families, small business owners, and workers.”

It is welcome news for Speaker Mike Johnson, who could use some more wiggle room in the House. The Louisiana Republican has been operating with a slim 218-213 majority and preparing to ram the president’s agenda through Congress.

The challenge facing Mr. Johnson was highlighted hours before polls closed in Florida, when a small group of Republicans joined Democrats in a fight over a procedural rule, effectively bringing the chamber to a grinding halt.

Also on Tuesday, voters in the 1st Congressional District in Florida’s Panhandle also went to the polls to pick a replacement lawmaker.

Rep. Matt Gaetz, a die-hard Trump supporter, resigned that seat after being nominated as U.S. attorney general, but he withdrew amid lingering accusations of sexual misconduct.

That race featured a showdown among Jimmy Patronis, a Republican who is the state’s chief financial officer, Gay Valimont, a Democratic gun-control activist, and independent Stephen Broden.

The two districts saw a massive disparity in fundraising and closer-than-usual polling, creating intrigue in what are rarely competitive districts.

Mr. Fine’s $1 million fundraising haul was dwarfed by Mr. Weil’s $9 million war chest.

Mr. Trump endorsed Mr. Fine and urged the voters who backed him so overwhelmingly last November to back the Republican hopeful.

“Randy Fine has my Complete and Total Endorsement! Election Day is TODAY. Get out and vote for Randy — he will not let you down!” Mr. Trump said Tuesday on Truth Social, making liberal use of all-capital letters.

Mr. Trump also backed Mr. Patronis in the 1st Congressional District, which he won by 37 points in the November election, reiterating his support for him in another Truth Social post.

The Democrats also had the fundraising advantage in that race, with Ms. Valimont raising about $6.5 million, compared to just $2.1 million for Mr. Patronis.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, the campaign arm for House Democrats, stayed out of both races, deciding to save its resources.

However, Ken Martin, the newly minted chair of the Democratic National Committee, traveled to Florida over the weekend to rally the troops behind Mr. Weil in the 6th District.

He also suggested that anything but a Republican blowout would be bad news for their party.

“The Republicans should win this easily, but they’re clearly running scared right now. We know that we are seeing momentum in this race,” Mr. Martin said on MSNBC. “The fact is that they could very well lose one or both of these races next Tuesday … Democrats are energized, Republicans are demoralized and independent voters are swinging our way because they are pissed off at Donald Trump and Elon Musk.”

Democrats have been scanning the nation for signs that voters are already souring on the second Trump administration and the GOP-controlled Congress.

Mr. Fine faced some criticism from Republicans over his fundraising and overall performance in the race.

Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida warned against reading too much into the race’s outcome, preemptively predicting Mr. Fine would underperform.

“They’re going to try to lay that at the feet of President Trump,” Mr. DeSantis said last week. “That is not a reflection of President Trump. It is a reflection of the specific candidate running in that race.”