Jimmy Patronis Easily Wins Republican Congressional Primary To Replace Matt Gaetz

January 29, 2025

Jimmy Patronis easily won the Republican special primary Tuesday in the race to replace Matt Gaetz in Congress.

Patronis, who was endorsed by President Donald Trump, defeated nine other Republican candidates with a commanding 66% of the vote. Joel Rudman received just under 10% of the vote; Aaron Dimmock, Gaetz’s primary opponent last cycle, received about 7%. Former Escambia County Commissioner Gene Valentino received 6% of the vote. Other candidates in the race included Michael Dylan Thompson (5%), Greg Merk (2%), Jeff Peacock (1%), Kevin Gaffney (1%), John Mills (1%) and Jeff Macey (under 0.4%).

“You know, I am humbled beyond words,” Patronis told our news partners WEAR 3 at his victory celebration. “This was probably the biggest race I feel like I’ve personally had. I’ve won two statewide races, but this is different. This is a very large county congressional race. You have four counties you had to win over. It was much more of a personal campaign. I had to earn the trust of the voters, and it was much more than running TV ads. You had to get out and touch them, you had to let them know who you were. And I’m just humbled by the show of support today.”

Patronis will face Democratic candidate Gay Valimont independent Stephen Brody, plus a few write-in candidates in an April 1 special election. She ran against Gaetz in 2024 and lost by a 2-1 margin.

Win or lose, Patronis had to resign his Cabinet position as Florida chief financial officer. His last day as CFO will be March 31, the day before the special election. His replacement will be appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis.

The First Congressional District became vacant when Gaetz resigned after being nominated by Trump as attorney general. He later withdrew from the nomination.

Pictured top: Jimmy Patronis speaks at his victory party Tuesday night. Courtesy image from WEAR 3 for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.

Comments

12 Responses to “Jimmy Patronis Easily Wins Republican Congressional Primary To Replace Matt Gaetz”

  1. Myrtle from the Grove on February 1st, 2025 12:13 pm

    Kinda weird that I have seen very, very few people that actually like this guy and yet he walked away with a ridiculous lead. Hmmmmm. Guess Elon really does “know all about those machines that count votes” per Trump.

  2. Susie on January 31st, 2025 1:16 pm

    Ok Jimmy, put your CFO hat down and work on lowering our Insurance rates on our homes!!! We don’t want to be like California and not have Insurance because it’s unaffordable OR not be paid with the Insurance we do have if we have any storm damage. PLEASE!

  3. Luigi on January 31st, 2025 9:36 am

    Congratulations. Please when you get to represent us on the other side of the Potomac,. Don’t forget about us here in Florida. The insurance crisis and collapse of the condo market affecting thousands of mostly senior on fixed income confronting a real state and insurance pandemic .

  4. Trappa on January 31st, 2025 12:51 am

    Thank God that’s over with. For the last few months, 65% of my texts everyday have been begging me to vote for Patronis, so the fact he received 65% of the votes doesn’t surprise me.

  5. Undecided on January 30th, 2025 7:47 am

    Not sure about this guy….

  6. Moon on January 30th, 2025 12:50 am

    Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.

  7. Citizen on January 29th, 2025 1:16 pm

    Good news

  8. Susan on January 29th, 2025 11:51 am

    Merry,
    Check out Florida law. To run for a US office you don’t have to live in the district, just in State of Florida.

  9. Jimbo on January 29th, 2025 11:18 am

    @Merry… You are absolutely correct…this guy promises nothing but to do what Trump says…the problem is that he is supposed to work for us and he has not once mentioned or even considered what is best for this district, mainly because he has no idea since he does not live here.

  10. Merry on January 29th, 2025 10:12 am

    I think there should be a new rule that if you haven’t lived and voted in that district for 4 yrs you shouldn’t be allowed to run for office in that district. He lives in district 2 and just because he owns a second home in Perdido doesn’t mean he should be allowed to vote or run for office in district 1. On top of that you see no commercials where he says he is going to do what is best for district 1, he says he is running to do what trump tells him to do. There comes a time when we need to do what is best for our district and voting for an outsider is not it.

  11. Steve on January 29th, 2025 8:33 am

    Congratulations to the Victor. Please represent us well.
    I can’t help wondering a few things;
    1. How many of the winning candidate’s voters, had ever even heard of him before this election?
    2. Can anyone name three things the winner did, in his previous position, that improved our lives?
    3. Will this just be another career politician people complain about in 20 years?

  12. Roger on January 29th, 2025 7:44 am

    Good I guess.. But all I think about is Happy Potter.. And a Patronis in that world Protects you from harm. So good..

Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under News