Who Are the Candidates for Gaetz's Seat and Will They Qualify?

From Thursday morning to Friday at noon, the 16 congressional candidates vying for the North Florida seat abruptly vacated by Matt Gaetz have to qualify to run for the seat.

So who's running, how close are they to qualifying, and will they make it to the Jan. 28 special election primary?

First, in Gaetz's honor, the nine Republicans vying to represent the blood-red district:

Jimmy Patronis: The soon-to-be former Chief Financial Officer (he resigns on Mar. 31) became the eleventh candidate to qualify for CD 1 after paying his qualifying fee Thursday. On Dec. 3, two days prior, he turned his state political committee into a federal political action committee.

The committee had nearly $2 million on Nov. 25, giving the popular official his first massive leg up over the other candidates. The other boost? Donald Trump was the one who urged him—then endorsed him—to run for Gaetz's seat after the former Rep. resigned to become the next Attorney General (even though he withdrew days later).

Joel Rudman: Rudman is a former state House Rep., elected in 2022, who resigned his seat soon after Gaetz resigned from Congress. He qualified to run Thursday afternoon after paying his qualifying fee and opened a federal campaign committee on Nov. 21.

Kevin Gaffney: As of noon on Thursday, Gaffney qualified to run. He filed his federal campaign notice with the state and paid his qualifying fee—which is an election assessment plus a filing to run fee—on Nov. 27. At the federal level, the former Justice Department worker opened a campaign committee on Nov. 24.

Michael Dylan Thompson: The Gen Z Pensacola native qualified to run at noon on Thursday. He, unlike most other candidates, is collecting petition signatures instead of paying a qualifying fee. Thompson, who opened a federal campaign committee on Nov. 15, has already collected nearly 100 more signatures than necessary.

Uloma Expete Kama: Kama, a newly minted Republican who challenged a Democratic Georgia Congressman in the May primary, filed her federal candidate notice with the state on Nov. 19. Because she has run for federal office in the past, she has had a federal campaign committee since July 2023. As of Thursday, the PAC had no remaining cash on hand.

John Mills: The retired Navy pilot and former primary opponent to state Sen. Doug Broxson in 2022 qualified Thursday afternoon. Mills, who announced his candidacy on Tuesday, has had a federal account to run for the seat since May, Jacob Ogles of Florida Politics reported first.

Gene Valentino: Valentino is a former Escambia County Commissioner and founding president of a mobile phone company who qualified Thursday afternoon. He has a federal account to run though according to the FEC, no campaign committee has been opened.

Jeff Peacock: From Pace, Florida, Peacock qualified to run Thursday afternoon. Though no campaign documents have yet been uploaded to the DOS website, he opened a federal campaign committee on Dec. 3.

Greg Merk: Former Navy and Air Force Pilot Merk qualified to run Thursday afternoon. Though no campaign documents have been uploaded to the DOS website, he has had a federal campaign committee open since July 2023.

Next, the one Democrat, two write-in candidates, two No Party Affiliation contenders, and the one Libertarian vying for CD-1:

Gay Valimont: Valimont, the sole Democrat running in the deeply red district, qualified Thursday afternoon. She ran against Gaetz in the November general election and lost by 32 points and she, like Republican Thompson, is collecting petition signatures to qualify instead of paying the fee and has so far collected nearly 80 more than is required. She currently has just shy of $65K in her federal campaign committee, which opened last August, and $34 in her other campaign committee—called "Stop the Insane Republicans."

Stanley Gray: A write-in candidate, Gray—who initially filed to run as a Democrat—also qualified to run Thursday morning. He filed his federal candidate notice on Nov. 22, though he has yet to open a federal campaign committee.

Richard Dembinsky: Another write-in candidate, the former candidate for CD-6 this year, SD 7 in 2008, Governor in 2006, and HD 28 in 2004 qualified to run Thursday morning. He has yet to open a federal campaign committee.

Tevin Channing Minus: Minus is an NPA candidate who has yet to open a federal committee. However, the former cryptologic linguist for the Army filed his federal candidate notice with the state on Nov. 22.

Tyler Leeana Davis: A former write-in candidate for president, Davis is running as an NPA. She filed to run with the state on Dec. 2 but has yet to file any campaign documents. She has not opened a federal committee yet.

Jonathan Garrett Green: Green, an NPA and associate with a civil rights mediation firm, filed to run with the state on Dec. 2, but has yet to file campaign documents. He has not opened a federal campaign committee.

Stan McDaniels: McDaniels is the sole libertarian who has filed to run for CD-1. A former Republican contender for the Escambia County Commission, McDaniels filed his federal candidate notice with the state on Nov. 26 and opened a federal campaign committee on Nov. 27.