“I am SO FIRED UP to serve the men and women of Congressional District 1. I’m honored to have (President-elect) Trump’s endorsement, and I’ll fight like hell to help him FIX this country. Let’s build a wall, drain the swamp, and put Americans back in control,” Patronis stated upon qualifying.
Trump pick and frontrunner Jimmy Patronis, a native of Northwest Florida, qualified yesterday in the race for Florida’s 1st Congressional District seat. So far five other candidates have left the race and endorsed Patronis as Florida scrambles to fill positions as President-elect Trump continues hand-selecting state leaders to play roles in or working with his Administration.
In addition to Patronis, Trump endorsed Florida Senator Randy Fine for Florida’s 6th Congressional District after Florida Senator Michael Waltz was picked by Trump to serve as National Security Advisor. Additionally, Trump has selected Sen. Marco Rubio for U.S. Secretary of State, former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi for U.S. Attorney General, and Governor Ron DeSantis could potentially be tapped for Secretary of Defense. Many speculate that former Congressman Matt Gaetz will run for Governor, a role some previously thought Patronis would pursue.
To date, five candidates have dropped out of the race for Gaetz’s Congressional seat, endorsing Patronis:
- Florida House District 1 Rep. Michelle Salzman (who did not resign to run)
- former Green Beret John Frankman,
- former U.S. Senate candidate Keith Gross,
- former Navy pilot Jeff Witt
- Nathan Nelson, Gaetz’s former Military Affairs Director.
Records show the following candidates remain in the race:
Aversa, Alan (WRI) Active
Davis, Tyler Leeana (NPA) Active
Dembinsky, Richard Paul (WRI) Qualified
Dimmock, Aaron (REP) Active
Gaffney, Kevin J. (REP) Qualified
Gray, Stanley (WRI) Qualified
Green, Jonathan Garrett (NPA) Active
Kama, Ekpete Uloma (REP) Active
Macey, Jeff (REP) Qualified
McDaniels, Stan (LPF) Active
Merk, Greg (REP) Qualified
Mills, John (REP) Qualified
Minus, Tevin Channing (NPA) Active
Patronis, Jimmy (REP) Qualified
Peacock, Jeff (REP) Qualified
Rudman, Joel (REP) Qualified
Thompson, Michael Dylan (REP) Qualified
Valentino, Gene (REP) Qualified
Valimont, Gay (DEM) Qualified
Windhauser, Angela Marie (REP) Withdrew
Qualification ends Sat., Dec. 7. The primary for the race will take place Jan. 28 ahead of the April 1 Special Election.
