©2024 The News Service of Florida
State lawmakers will have to decide by early in the week if they want to run for a Northwest Florida congressional seat vacated by former U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., as Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration on Friday set special election dates to fill the open slot.
The special primary election for Congressional District 1 will take place on Jan. 28 and a special general election will occur on April 1, Secretary of State Cord Byrd announced Friday.
The qualifying period for the race will run from Dec. 5 at 8 a.m. through noon on Dec. 6. Elected officials who want to run for the seat face a Nov. 25 deadline to submit notices of resignation, but the resignations do not have to take effect immediately.
“At Gov. Ron DeSantis’ direction, this special election is being conducted as quickly as possible,” Byrd said in a press release Friday. “We are committed to ensuring this election is held as soon as we are allowed to hold it by state law.”
The congressional district is made up of all or parts of Escambia, Okaloosa, Santa Rosa and Walton counties.
Candidates who have already announced they intend to seek the post include state Reps. Michelle Salzman, R-Pensacola, and Joel Rudman, R-Navarre, as well as former assistant state attorney Keith Gross.
Florida Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis has indicated he’s considering a run.
On Friday, former Escambia County Commissioner Gene Valentino said he is entering the race.
Gaetz resigned from the district on Nov. 13, the day he was nominated by President-elect Donald Trump to be U.S. Attorney General. Gaetz withdrew his nomination for the post on Thursday.
Potential voters have until Dec. 30 to registered to vote in the special primary election and until March 3 to vote in the special general election.
Meanwhile, Gaetz ended speculation Friday about whether he would return to his Northwest Florida seat when the new Congress takes office in January.
“I do not intend to join the 119th Congress,” Gaetz said in a podcast interview with Turning Point USA founder and President Charlie Kirk. “There are a number of fantastic Floridians who’ve stepped up to run for my seat, people who have inspired with their heroism, with their public service,” Gaetz told Kirk. “And I’m actually excited to see Northwest Florida go to new heights and have great representation.”
An early supporter of Trump and a frequent guest on conservative media, Gaetz has identified himself as a “libertarian populist” and been at the center of several controversies in Florida and on Capitol Hill.
In 2023, for example, he orchestrated the removal of California Republican Kevin McCarthy as speaker of the U.S. House. “I’m going to be fighting for President Trump,” Gaetz, who was elected in 2017, told Kirk. “I’m going to be doing whatever he asks of me, as I always have. But I think that eight years is probably enough time in the United States Congress.”
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