Jimmy Patronis Triumphs in Florida Special Election
TALLAHASSEE, Florida — Jimmy Patronis, a mainstay in Tallahassee who rose to the statewide post of chief financial officer, is headed to Congress according to the Associated Press after voters in Matt Gaetz’s former district picked him to replace the firebrand.
The 52-year-old Republican defeated Democrat Gay Valimont in a special election held after Gaetz resigned late last year to mount a short-lived quest to become President Donald Trump’s attorney general.
Valimont, a gun violence prevention activist who ran against Gaetz last November, significantly outraised Patronis in the run-up to the election and faulted him over the state’s property insurance crisis due to his key role in regulating the industry. She also said federal budget cuts supported by the Trump administration would harm veterans in the military-reliant district.
But the 1st District — which stretches from the Alabama border to just west of Panama City — has been ruby-red, with Trump winning 68 percent of the vote back in November. Trump endorsed Patronis at the outset of the contest, and Patronis easily won the GOP primary over nine other candidates.
Patronis leaned into the Trump endorsement, asserting Valimont was “crazy” and that her financial advantage came from Democrats outside the northwest Florida district who “hate Donald Trump.”
“Frankly, they do not like people from the Florida Panhandle,” Patronis said last week during a telephone rally held with Trump.
Gaetz, whose father is a former state Senate president and became a prominent GOP politician in the area, was first elected to Congress back in 2016. He was targeted last year by former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy for his role in helping remove him from the chamber’s top post, but Gaetz easily won the GOP primary and then defeated Valimont.
Gaetz stepped down from Congress after Trump tapped him for a Cabinet post — only to eventually withdraw from consideration amid a looming House Ethics investigation into sexual misconduct allegations, which he denied.
Patronis, whose family runs a well-known Panama City restaurant, was a state legislator who bucked the GOP establishment in 2010 and threw his support behind Rick Scott in the primary for governor. After he left the state Legislature, Scott picked Patronis to serve on the Florida Public Service Commission, the regulatory body that oversees utilities. Scott then tapped Patronis to become chief financial officer after then-CFO Jeff Atwater announced his resignation.
Patronis won two terms to the statewide post but was barred by term limits from running again. He made the decision to jump into the race to replace Gaetz, even though his home is just outside the northwest Florida district.
Patronis’ departure as chief financial officer has created a bit of intrigue in the state Capitol, since Gov. Ron DeSantis has not yet named a successor. A key Trump ally, state Sen. Joe Gruters, wants the job and plans to run for the position in 2026. But state Sen. Blaise Ingoglia, one of DeSantis’ most stalwart defenders, also wants the post. Trump has already endorsed Gruters for chief financial officer, so if DeSantis taps Ingoglia, it could inflame tensions once again between the governor and the president.
DeSantis said Tuesday that he plans to name an acting CFO sometime soon and would name a permanent replacement “no later than the middle of May.” The governor said he was “vetting” potential candidates, and that “some people are expressing interest.” Patronis has raised questions on whether Florida can pay its bills without a permanent CFO in place, but DeSantis said his office does not agree with that interpretation of law.
