Patronis wins Florida special election to replace Gaetz, giving GOP key House vote

TALLAHASSEE, Florida — Jimmy Patronis, a mainstay in Tallahassee who rose to the statewide post of chief financial officer, is headed to Congress according to the Associated Press after voters in Matt Gaetz’s former district picked him to replace the firebrand.

The 52-year-old Republican defeated Democrat Gay Valimont in a special election held after Gaetz resigned late last year to mount a short-lived quest to become President Donald Trump’s attorney general.

Valimont, a gun violence prevention activist who ran against Gaetz last November, significantly outraised Patronis in the run-up to the election and faulted him over the state’s property insurance crisis due to his key role in regulating the industry. She also said federal budget cuts supported by the Trump administration would harm veterans in the military-reliant district.

But the 1st District — which stretches from the Alabama border to just west of Panama City — has been ruby-red, with Trump winning 68 percent of the vote back in November. Trump endorsed Patronis at the outset of the contest, and Patronis easily won the GOP primary over nine other candidates.