Gov. Ron DeSantis announced early Thursday that he will hold special elections as soon as possible for two Republican congressional seats vacated by President-elect Donald Trump, who's drawing heavily from Florida's political talent pool for his new administration.
Though the Florida Governor has yet to announce which days the special primary and general elections will be held for Reps. Matt Gaetz and Mike Waltz, he told Secretary of State Cord Byrd Thursday morning to create a schedule "immediately."
"Congratulations to the Floridians being appointed to key positions in the Trump Administration: Senator Marco Rubio, Congressman Matt Gaetz, and Congressman Mike Waltz," DeSantis posted from Italy, four days into his five-day trade mission to the Mediterranean country. "I've instructed Secretary of State Cord Byrd to formulate and announce a schedule for the upcoming special elections immediately."
Byrd responded less than 15 minutes later, promising, "We will have this schedule posted soon, and we are working to ensure these special elections are conducted as soon as possible."
Special elections will be held for Gaetz, whom Trump has (controversially) nominated to Attorney General, and Waltz, who has been named national security adviser for the upcoming 47th administration. Because this leaves two Republican seats vacant in a House with a narrow conservative majority—Gaetz resigned hours after his nomination went public—it is up to DeSantis to schedule special elections to fill those seats.
One of the potential contenders for Gaetz's seat in the hard-red district, state Rep. Michelle Salzman, told The Floridian that she is "waiting on Trump's team to make the call" and officially run. That would make her the first candidate to officially throw her hat in the ring for the so-far-undisclosed special election.
But Florida's special elections process is complicated.
First, DeSantis must issue an executive order spelling out the dates for the primary and general elections; only California, Louisiana, Oregon, Washington, and Alaska don't require primaries in special elections. Byrd must also prepare a notice of the elections to the local Supervisor of Elections, specifying which offices have to be filled, on what days, and all other deadlines—including qualification rules.
The Supervisor of Elections then has to advertise the election dates twice at least ten days before the qualifying period. Ballots need to be prepared—which can take nearly two weeks—and a mandatory 45-day ballot waiting period for military and overseas citizens.
Other rules, like a mandatory minimum early voting period, tally up, making it very likely that results for the next Representative of Congressional District 1 in northwest Florida and District 6 in central-northeast Florida will take months. While Speaker of the House Mike Johnson estimates new congressional Representatives by January, others theorize it could take until at least mid-March for Gaetz's and Waltz's replacements to make it to D.C.
Sen. Marco Rubio is the other Florida man added to the Trump administration. As the next Secretary of State, his departure poses a quandary for DeSantis, who must appoint a Senator in his stead. The question is, will it be a MAGA ally as Trump world demands or a DeSantis loyalist?
Stay tuned.
