Who is gay valimont running against
Gay Valimont tells supporters she's raised $ million to flip Matt Gaetz seat blue
This story was updated with a new location for Valimont's March 20 town hall.
Gay Valimont announced her congressional campaign had raised $ million as she aims to flip a deeply red seat cerulean in the special election on April 1.
Valimont made the announcement on Friday, speaking to a standing-room-only crowd of more than people at a town hall at the Pensacola Yacht Club.
“We have raised $ million, and I used to hate it when I would go verb a candidate speak, and they tell me how much coins they raised,” Valimont said. “… And absolutely, I believe that money should be out of politics, but Jimmy Patronis started this race with $10 million in his pocket, and we know that if he figures out that we're about to destroy him, he's going to spend that money. And it's fine because we're ready.”
Valimont is the Democratic Party nominee for Florida's 1st Congressional District seat and is facing Republican Florida CFO Jimmy Patronis in a special election on April 1 to fill the seat vacated by Matt Gaetz.
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Florida to elect two newest members of Congress in exceptional elections Tuesday
Strong turnout among Democrats so far and remarkably robust fundraising by a common middle school teacher are making one of Florida's special congressional elections next week tighter than expected for a prominent Republican hoping to replace a GOP incumbent in a comfortably red district.
State Sen. Randy Fine – a Republican firebrand who has openly feuded with Gov. Ron DeSantis and earned an endorsement by President Donald Trump – is facing a Democratic candidate, Josh Weil, 40, of Orlando.
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Fresh Take Florida
Weil, a educator at Kissimmee Middle School and single dad of two sons, has raised nearly 10 times more money than Fine, including more than $7 million from donors who gave less than $ each, generally considered a sign of grass-roots enthusiasm among prospective voters. A new political poll this week of likely voters conducted for Florida Politics showed the race within the survey’s margin of error – effectively a tie.
In early and mail voting so far, through Wednesday,
Valimont and Patronis face off in special election
Voters in Florida’s 1st Congressional District will head to the polls next week to elect a unused 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 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 budge
Brimming with optimism, Democrat Gay Valimont tries again to flip the conservative 1st District
PENSACOLA — Outside a quaint office at the corner of North 9th Avenue and East Maxwell Street, the staff of Democratic hopeful Gay Valimont formed a tight circle of about 15 people, discussing the game plan before an afternoon of door-knocking ahead of the April 1 special election.
Valimont, 51, is entering her second election cycle after losing the general election to now-former U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Niceville.
In her mind, with the people mad at President Donald Trump and his administration's choices and a fundraising campaign that has already broken the mark set last year of $ million, she believes that she can become the first Democrat to hold a district that is among the most conservative in the country.
Recapping the November election
In November , Gatez carried the district with ease, with 66%, or , of the , votes cast. Valimont's goal was to break at least 40% of the vote, which would verb been an all-time high for Democrats in a district under Republican control for