President Donald Trump plans to make a personal appeal to Florida voters in a pair of congressional special elections, as one of the deep-crimson districts has national Republicans worried.
Trump will join tele-town halls Thursday evening for state Sen. Randy Fine (R-Melbourne Beach) and Florida Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis.
The events come as Republicans fear the Fine race — in the GOP-heavy 6th District — is closer than they’d anticipated. Trump backed Fine for the seat, but his Democratic opponent, Josh Weil, raised $10 million for his campaign, largely leveraging anti-Trump messaging on social media to reach out-of-state donors.
Trump’s appearance is the latest in a string of actions being taken to make sure that Republicans turn out and vote in Florida’s 6th District, which includes areas like Daytona Beach and St. Augustine, and was the seat Gov. Ron DeSantis held when he was in Congress.
Despite a feud with Fine that began during the 2024 Republican presidential primary, DeSantis sent his team to help in the race. A super PAC tied to Elon Musk is getting involved by spending $20,000 to support both Fine and Patronis, campaign finance documents show. The Republican Party of Florida also helped the campaign pay for a TV ad and Florida Young Republicans will be knocking on doors over the weekend.
And more corners of MAGA world are jumping in. On Wednesday, Donald Trump Jr. hit social media to urge people in the district to come out and vote for Fine. “Radical Democrats are pouring millions of dollars into this race trying to take congress away from the Republicans, so we need to fight for the America First agenda,” he said.
MAGA firebrand Steve Bannon hosted Fine on his WarRoom podcast and urged voters to support him, and he received the endorsement of conservative radio host Mark Levin.
The seat in question is vacant because its former occupant, Mike Waltz, became national security adviser. The former congressman is currently facing criticism over a group chat conversation that leaked on an attack on Houthi rebels in Yemen.
One poll from StPete Polls suggests the race is within the margin of error, even though Trump handily won the district by more than 30 points in 2024, and Republican voters are starting to show up to vote early in higher numbers.
Still, Republicans don’t want Democrats to use even a close showing as a potential marker of Trump’s performance as president. Republicans are also eager to grow their House ranks given their slim majority.
Trump is the special guest in the second tele-town hall on Thursday evening for Patronis for a House race in the Panhandle that has gotten less attention. That election, also taking place April 1, is to fill the seat formerly occupied by Matt Gaetz.
The campaign for Weil, a teacher and progressive, hasn’t been without controversy. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez asked the campaign to take down an online ad she had not consented to appear in.
And the news site Florida Politics reported that more than $51,000 the campaign raised went toward a luxury lodge on Airbnb that’s functioning as the campaign headquarters. Data from AdImpact shows Weil has spent less than $1 million on TV ads, which are still considered to be the most effective way for candidates in Florida to see results at the ballot box.
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