Republicans will hang on to a U.S. House seat in Florida after state Sen. Randy Fine defeated Democrat Josh Weil in a special election on Tuesday.
The race was unexpectedly close, with the possibility of a Democratic victory in the highly Republican district worrying party leaders amid slumping approval ratings for President Donald Trump. Private polls showed Weil in striking distance despite Trump carrying the district last November by 30 points.
Fine pitched himself as a tool of Trump, like most House Republicans, and said this week he didn’t disagree with the president about anything.
“I think that when you have a team captain, you have to support the team,” Fine told ABC News on Monday.
Weil highlighted the Trump administration mass firings, done at the behest of billionaire Elon Musk, and chaos at the Social Security Administration.
“People are scared. They never thought they’d find themselves in a time when there was uncertainty over if their next Social Security check was going to come in,” Weil told the Washington Examiner this week.
The seat was previously held by former Rep. Mike Waltz, a Republican now serving as Trump’s National Security adviser. (He’s the one who invited a reporter to the group chat about secret war plans.)
Waltz was one of three lawmakers Trump tapped for jobs in his administration. Voters in Florida’s first congressional district also headed to the polls Tuesday to choose a replacement for former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), who resigned after Trump asked him to lead the FBI, a job that ultimately went to someone else.
Trump also asked Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) to serve in his administration as ambassador to the United Nations, but changed his mind last week and told Stefanik to stay in the House instead of putting the party through another risky special election.
Top Republicans in the House urged Fine to “get his shit together” in the closing days of the race, sources told CNN.
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