Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has not yet scheduled special elections for two vacant state legislature seats, including House District 3, which covers most of Santa Rosa County and parts of North Okaloosa County. Subsequently, the American Civil Liberties Union has filed a lawsuit, asserting his inaction has left citizens within those districts with a lack of representation.
DeSantis scheduled Jan. 28 primaries and April 1 special elections to replace two members of Congress picked to serve in the Trump Administration. However, Florida Secretary of State Cord Byrd’s office back in December told South Santa Rosa News they were still waiting on the Governor to schedule the special elections for the state races.
The ACLU’s lawsuit was filed on behalf of Navarre resident Christina Forrest, a resident of House District 3. Joel Rudman on November 25 gave notice he was quitting that job effective Jan. 1 to run for former U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz’s Florida’s 1st Congressional seat.
The lawsuit also names a Palm Beach woman impacted after District 19 State Senator Randy Fine resigned to run for U.S. Rep. Michael Waltz’s 6th Congressional seat. Although Florida has a resign-to-run rule, Fine chose his resignation to be March 31, enabling him to participate in part of the 60-day 2025 legislative session, which begins March 4.
It’s not the first time DeSantis has been sued for delaying the scheduling of a special election. He was sued in 2021 and 2023 and within days scheduled those respective elections.
Rudman faces 9 Republican candidates in the primary, including Trump’s pick, Jimmy Patronis, whom Gaetz calls the frontrunnner in that race. Rudman faced widespread criticism for filing bills for the upcoming session, knowing his resignation would become effective prior to their introduction, resuling in those 7 bills being withdrawn from further consideration.
Fine is endorsed by Trump in the race to replace Waltz, who was picked to serve as Trump’s National Security Advisor. It’s noteworthy that Waltz had not yet resigned before DeSantis scheduled the special election to replace him.
Gaetz, who now hosts The Matt Gaetz Show on One America News Network, is contemplating a 2026 run for Florida Governor after it became clear he would not have the necessary votes for confirmation as Trump’s pick for U.S. Attorney General.
CANDIDATES WAITING FOR HOUSE DISTRICT 3 TO BE SCHEDULED:
The following candidates have signed up for the House District 3 race to replace Rudman:
- Nathan Boyles, co-owner of Adams Santitation and former chairman of the Florida-Alabama Transportation Planning Organization and Okaloosa County Commission;
- Hayden Hudson, a prosecutor for the First Judicial Circuit;
- Joshua Sik, a Destin attorney;
- Cindy Smith, a local mom with a nursing background;
- Jamie Wells, a 24-year veteran of the U.S. Army;
- Dondre Wise, the sole Democratic candidate to date – aforementioned candidates are registered Republicans.
State Division of Elections reports show that Boyles and Hudson, who loaned himself $10,000, are leading the campaign donation race with more than $22,000 each and followed by Wells, who reported $351. The other candidates have not yet reported any contributions during the first reporting period.
