The special election in early April for Florida’s 6th congressional district saw Rep. Randy Fine (R) emerge as Rep. Mike Waltz’s (R) successor. As a member of the U.S. Congress, Rep. Fine now looks to the 2026 midterm election, but his Republican challenger Aaron Baker is ready to unseat him.
In an exclusive interview with The Floridian, Baker, who was born in Lakeland, Florida, shared his hope to oust Rep. Fine, arguing that the Florida Congressman is not looking out for the best interests of the country.
A self-proclaimed ‘America First’ candidate, Baker defined that “[America First] means that we take care of every American before we start taking care of the rest of the world.”
Despite receiving a coveted endorsement from President Donald Trump (R) ahead of the special election, Rep. Fine is accused of not being ‘America First.” Instead, Baker believes that “Randy Fine’s policy is that we take care of the world before we take care of Americans.”
In speaking about Rep. Fine’s policy shortcomings, Baker described that “to [Rep. Fine], it’s simply just an office and a title, which is not what our country was founded on.” “Our country was founded off the idea ‘people before politics,” he added.
“A congressman is supposed to represent the district that he lives in… Mr. Fine does not live here,” Baker noted, citing Governor Ron DeSantis’ (R) previous criticism regarding the matter. “As Governor DeSantis says, ‘[Rep. Fine] lives 100 miles that way.’"
The Florida Governor made the comment shortly after Rep. Fine’s congressional victory, calling him a poor candidate.
“Some of the stuff that he comes up with, it just doesn’t make sense,” Baker continued, citing recent comments from Rep. Fine where he called for the cancellation of Wall Street Journal subscriptions. “I would much rather work on, for example, the Lifesaving Gear for Police Act, which Congressman Waltz wrote.”
Baker further discerned that, between him and Rep. Fine, it’s “complete night and day difference as far as personality, as far as leadership style, as far as being out there with the people every single day.”
On November 3rd, 2026, if Baker were to defeat the incumbent Republican, he vows to address some of the country’s most pressing concerns, which his website lists as economic recovery, education, and environmental concerns, among others. However, he believes that there are some issues where he could break rank with the GOP for the betterment of his constituents.
“I think that some of the things that are proposed are not constitutional,” he warned. “For example, some of the gun laws that are currently in place are simply not constitutional… some of the ‘free speech’ laws that we’ve passed in Florida are not constitutional.”
Vowing to protect the First and Second Amendments, Baker highlighted concerns regarding red snapper fishing on the Atlantic side.
“There is absolutely no reason that the federal government should be handling how many days a year Floridians along the Atlantic coast can fish for red snapper,” he expressed. “That’s a policy that just makes no sense.”
The congressional hopeful also took issue with both sides of the aisle, admitting that the “do nothing Congress” is affecting everyday Americans.
“In this specific congressional district, the poverty rate is 14.6%, that’s three and a half percent higher than the national average,” Baker lamented. “When the government shuts down, and we have SNAP benefits halted, you can really see how much that affects the community,” he further explained. “The SNAP benefits, as a whole, is a completely different discussion, but it is the federal government’s responsibility, first and foremost, above anything else, to take care of its citizens, which it is not doing.”
In 2026, Floridians will also vote for its new Governor as Governor DeSantis will be term limited.
On social media, Baker has shown support for James Fishback, CEO of investment firm Azoria, throwing his hat in the gubernatorial race. However, the congressional hopeful explained that Fishback is not his top choice.
“There are three of us that are basically running on the exact same platform,” Baker explained. “Myself, [Mike Wilnau] in the 11th Congressional District, [Marcus Carter] in the 9th Congressional District. We’re all ‘Jay Collins guys.’ We’re all ‘full speed ahead, Jay Collins.’”
Baker commented that he “would like to see Jay Collins and Casey DeSantis together on a ticket,” and mentioned it’s frustrating that the Lieutenant Governor has not made an announcement yet. “I think that he is just so far above any of the policy ethics that Byron Donalds has represented in the past.”
Should Lt. Governor Collins decide not to run, however, Baker admitted that he has had conversations with Fishback to support him, commenting that Fishback has "‘America First, Florida First’ priorities."
“[Fishback] understands the H1-B visa program better than anyone else. It’s an issue that different constituents have brought up to me in the past,” Baker commented.
“If I could pick a dream team at this exact point in time, I would say Jay Collins as Governor, Fishback as Lieutenant Governor,” he suggested. “I think you have an absolute stellar team there to keep Florida on the path that it’s on right now to really just shine bright.”
Tomorrow, November 11th, Baker, Wilnau, and Carter are scheduled to meet with Kentucky Rep Thomas Massie (R), noting that they’re “all in agreement that we need a federally balanced budget.” “That is one way that we’re really going to help inflation.”
“I very much like Mr. Fishback’s idea of BlackRock not being able to buy all the real estate in Florida,” Baker further commented. “I’m driving by a neighborhood right now that says, ‘for rent,’ and it’s a brand-new neighborhood. That’s not good.”
Baker also shared that “whoever is advising President Trump, whether that’s Susie Wiles – and I’ve made my views about her in the past known – whoever told [President Trump] that a 50-year mortgage is even a halfway reasonable idea needs to get their head examined. We really need to be able to build generational wealth in this country.”
On his journey to unseat Rep. Fine, Baker shares that he is influenced by Florida’s 6th Congressional District, which he called “hard working.” “Follow the example that my congressional district has given me. I will work ten times harder than any other candidate that’s out there,” he expressed.
“I am out there every single day. I go to every event that I can go to. I support every cause that I believe in. I try to support the people here in this congressional district as much as I possibly can. I’ll continue to do that until I either win, or the voters say they want to stay on the course that we’re currently on, which I don’t believe that 90% of the voters do.”
