Voters in Florida’s 1st Congressional District will head to the polls next week to elect a new representative following last year's resignation of former Rep. Matt Gaetz. The race, which has drawn national attention, pits Democrat Gay Valimont, a gun reform activist and veterans’ advocate, against Republican Jimmy Patronis, Florida’s outgoing chief financial officer and a longtime ally of President Donald Trump.
With Florida’s 1st District being one of the most Republican-leaning in the country, Patronis enters the race as the presumptive favorite. Trump carried the district by more than 35 points in 2024. Valimont, meanwhile, won just 34% of the vote in her last bid for the seat when she challenged Gaetz during the regular election cycle that same year.
Still, her focus on veterans’ issues and strong grassroots fundraising have introduced a level of Democratic engagement that has drawn attention to the race.
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With the Department of Government Efficiency's budget cuts to services at the Department of Veterans Affairs emerging as a key issue and Patronis running as a staunch Trump ally, the election could serve as an early test of voter sentiment ahead of the 2026 mid-term elections.
A Seat Up for Grabs
Gaetz initially announced his resignation from Congress after being nominated for U.S. attorney general in Trump’s new administration. However, as the House Ethics Committee neared the release of findings related to an ongoing investigation into his conduct, he withdrew from consideration and stepped down from Congress entirely.
His departure left the deep-red district without representation, prompting Gov. Ron DeSantis to call a special election, setting the primary for early March and the general election for April 1. Patronis, who had been serving as Florida’s CFO since 2017, quickly secured Trump’s endorsement and emerged victorious in the Republican primary. Valimont secured the Democratic nomination without a contest, positioning herself as a political outsider focused on local issues.
Jimmy Patronis: The Republican Establishment Candidate
Patronis, a Panama City native, has spent much of his career in Florida state government. He first served in the Florida House of Representatives from 2006 to 2014 before being appointed to the state’s Public Service Commission. In 2017, then-Gov. Rick Scott tapped him to serve as Florida’s chief financial officer, a position he still holds. Throughout his career, Patronis has built a reputation as a fiscal conservative, frequently emphasizing his commitment to cutting government spending and limiting bureaucracy.
During an interview last month, Patronis made clear that reducing federal expenditures would be a central focus of his tenure in Congress.
“This is going to be now my new passion—to attack the wasteful spending at the federal government,” he said.
He has pledged to support Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, which has already begun making deep cuts across multiple federal agencies, including the Department of Veterans Affairs. Critics, including Valimont, argue that these cuts disproportionately harm the district’s large veteran population.
Patronis has also made property insurance reform a cornerstone of his campaign, pointing to his role in drafting Florida’s READY Act. The measure, modeled on the federal Health Savings Account system, allows homeowners to set aside pre-tax dollars to make hurricane-resistant home improvements, such as replacing roofs or installing impact-resistant windows.
“We’re empowering them and incentivizing them to save a little bit of money, put it aside in order to protect their single largest investment,” he said.
His record as CFO has also drawn scrutiny, though. Opponents have criticized his handling of the state’s property insurance crisis and highlighted his political committee’s acceptance of large sums—reportedly nearly $2 million—from insurance companies. Valimont has pointed to these donations as evidence of undue industry influence over state policy. Patronis has denied that these contributions shaped his decisions, pointing instead to the Insurer Accountability Act—a 2023 law that imposed stricter penalties on companies that mishandle claims after disasters—as proof of his willingness to confront bad actors.
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“Sometimes you’ve got to put a scalp on the wall to send a message,” he said, referencing the state’s $1 million fine against one insurer.
Gay Valimont: The Progressive Challenger
Valimont, a longtime activist and former state leader for Moms Demand Action, has framed her campaign as a fight for the working class, with an emphasis on health care access and veterans’ services. A central tenet of her platform has been the expansion of VA health care in the district, which she argues is severely underfunded compared to the area’s veteran population.
"We have more veterans in this district than any other district in Florida," she said at a recent town hall "... We have the second largest vet population in the country, so why do we not have the best for our vets? ... We should set the standard."
She has also sharply criticized DOGE, saying that its budget cuts have led to staffing shortages at VA hospitals and made it harder for former service members to access care.
Valimont has also taken aim at Patronis’s tenure as CFO, blaming him for the state’s worsening property insurance crisis.
Unlike Patronis, who has received significant financial backing from Republican-aligned PACs, Valimont has touted her grassroots fundraising success. Her campaign reports an average donation of $33 per contributor, a figure she cites as evidence that her support comes from everyday voters rather than corporate interests.
That fundraising edge, however, has not come without controversy. As WFSU’s Tristan Wood reported, Valimont and fellow Democrat Joshua Weil have raised more than $15 million combined—more than five times as much as their Republican opponents. But much of that money has come from out-of-state donors in Democratic strongholds like California, New York, and Massachusetts, and a significant share—nearly $5 million—has gone to a single digital consultant, Key Lime Strategies, which is run by Weil and Valimont’s digital fundraising director, Jackson McMillian.
The firm has come under fire for allegedly using the likeness of national Democratic figures in online fundraising ads without permission. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said she had not consented to appearing in the ads. Other Democrats, including gun control advocate and Parkland shooting survivor David Hogg, have also criticized McMillian's tactics.
As early voting winds down, the April 1 election could offer an early glimpse into the durability of Trump’s political brand—and whether Democrats can compete in even the reddest corners of Florida.
