Republicans emerged victorious in special elections for two US House of Representatives seats in Florida, disappointing Democratic hopes for an upset victory in the first federal elections since President Donald Trump began his second term. Despite this, Democratic candidates Josh Weil and Gay Valimont are expected to perform better than the significant margins they lost by in November. Weil, a Democratic public school teacher, had a strong showing against Fine, a state senator, in the eastern coastal district formerly represented by Trump’s national security advisor Mike Waltz. Meanwhile, Republican Jimmy Patronis won the second special election in the seat vacated by Republican Matt Gaetz, who resigned after Trump nominated him for attorney general.While Democrats trailed in the heavily Republican areas, their performance is set to be much closer than in November.

Democrats’ continued strong performance in off-year elections nationwide is also noteworthy, with a recent upset victory in a state senate race in Pennsylvania and the Trump administration’s withdrawal of their nomination of congresswoman Elise Stefanik as UN ambassador to avoid another vacant House seat.

Source: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/apr/01/republicans-florida-special-elections-results