Special election dates for both of Florida's vacant congressional seats have been set for the two Republican Congressmen tapped for Trump's new administration—though one withdrew in the wake of salaciously detrimental allegations.
The now-vacant seats of former Rep. Matt Gaetz of Northwest Florida and Rep. Mike Waltz of Northeast Florida will be filled by April, Secretary of State Cord Byrd announced by Monday.
"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.
Nine Republicans had announced their candidacy for CD-1, though a slew dropped out after Trump endorsed Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis for the role Monday, including state Rep. Michelle Salzman, former Green Beret John Frankman, and former U.S. Senate candidate Keith Gross.
Meanwhile, Waltz triggered an executive order for a CD-6 special election schedule Monday afternoon by sending in his resignation letter. The special election dates are almost identical to Gaetz', though candidates have until Dec. 7 to qualify. 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.
This story was updated after Rep. Waltz resigned Monday afternoon.
