Donald Trump's candidates in Florida's congressional special elections, Randy Fine and Jimmy Patronis, outstripped their competitors by hundreds of thousands of dollars, according to new campaign finance data.
As former—and current—President, the Trump seal of approval granted the Republicans enormous political pull, enabling Chief Financial Officer Patronis to rake in a sizable war chest in the special election for Congressional District 1, and state Sen. Fine to do the same for Congressional District 6.
The massive financial gap between candidates hints at a key theme: any Republican hoping to win statewide in the coming years will need Trump's backing.
Patronis, who faces nine other Republicans ahead of the special primary election for CD 1 on Jan. 28, amassed over $972K between Dec. 3 and Jan. 8, with a remaining $710.7K in cash on hand. In comparison, the next highest fundraiser, Republican Gene Valentino, raised $424.7K and ended the quarter with $28.6K in cash on hand.
In the CD 6 race, Fine has raised $426.7K with a remaining $242.4K in ending cash on hand. His closest financial competitor is Democrat Josh Weil, a public school teacher, who raised $225.4K with a remaining $140.7K in cash on hand.
Both congressional districts are solidly red, meaning the winner of both Republican primaries is expected to win the general races on April 1.
The special election races were triggered after Trump snagged former Rep. Mike Waltz, who represented CD-6, as his national security adviser, and nominated former Rep. Matt Gaetz, of CD-1, as attorney general. Though Gaetz ultimately withdrew his nomination amid salacious allegations, both he and Waltz resigned from their posts to pursue the Trump cabinet.
Gov. Ron DeSantis quickly called special elections for their seats, prompting Fine and Patronis to announce their candidacies. Now, DeSantis will also need to appoint someone to Patronis' CFO role after he resigns on March 31.
On Tuesday, the Florida Governor announced special elections for Fine's seat and for the district of state Rep. Joel Rudman, who resigned his seat on Jan. 1 to run for CD-1 against Patronis.
The special primary elections for those seats will be on April 1 and the general will be June 10.
