Gov. Ron DeSantis has recently announced the special election dates for Rep. Matt Gaetz's newly vacant congressional seat, though he has yet to schedule elections for Trump's future national security advisor, Rep. Mike Waltz.
Why? Because Waltz, unlike Gaetz, did not resign his congressional seat after President-elect Donald Trump poached him for a role in his administration.
"At Governor Ron DeSantis’ direction, this Special Election is being conducted as quickly as statutorily possible," Florida Secretary of State Cord Byrd said Friday of Congressional District 1's special election schedule. “We are committed to ensuring this election is held as soon as we are allowed to hold it by state law.”
DeSantis issued an executive order on Friday asking that a schedule be set for CD-1, Gaetz's district in northwest Florida. So Byrd and the Department of State decided that the last day to qualify to run would be Dec. 6 of this year. Book-closing, or when Floridians must be registered to vote in the primary, will be on Dec. 30. Early voting for the primary will take place from Jan. 18 to Jan. 25, and the primary will be on Jan. 28.
Book-closing for the special general election will be on Mar. 3, early voting will occur from Mar. 22 to Mar. 29, and the special general election will be on Apr. 1.
So far nine Republicans have announced their candidacy for CD-1, including state Reps. Joel Rudman and Michele Salzman, former Green Beret and Gaetz ally John Frankman, former U.S. Senate candidate Keith Gross, Gaetz's former Director of Military Affairs Nathan Nelson, Bikers for Trump leader Bernadette Pittman, former Escambia County Commissioner Gene Valentino, F-35 trainer and pilot Jeff Witt, and former U.S. Senate write-in candidate Uloma Ekpete Koma, Jacob Ogles of Florida Politics reported.
This doesn't include Florida Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis, who last week announced that he was "strongly considering" a run for the office.
Meanwhile, Waltz is still serving in Congress representing CD-6 due to Republicans' razor-thin House majority, and may continue to do so until Trump's inauguration on Jan. 20. Despite no election having been called for his seat, newly-elected state Sen. Randy Fine is expected to announce his candidacy for the seat after Trump urged him to run on social media, writing "RUN, RANDY, RUN!" on Truth Social.
CD-1's speedy schedule announcement is largely due to Gaetz resigning the seat hours after Trump picked him to be the next Attorney General. However, because the role is subject to Senate confirmation and many Senators worried about past allegations that Gaetz had paid a minor for sex, Gaetz decided last week to withdraw his name for the role. In his stead, Trump nominated former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi for the federal office.
While this may appear to be poor planning on Gaetz's part, the firebrand Floridian appears to be planning his next move: score a Trump appointment to special counsel, run for Florida governor in 2026, or have DeSantis appoint him to Marco Rubio's soon-to-be-empty Senate seat (this is unlikely).
In the meantime, he's following in the footsteps of ex-Congressman George Santos with a newly launched Cameo gig, where he charges $525 for personalized videos.
