Latest news with #CongressionalDistricts
Yahoo
01-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
First election test for Trump's term surprisingly close in FL, GOP looks to increase razor-thin House majority
Voters in two congressional districts in Florida head to the polls on Tuesday, as Republicans aim to keep control of both solidly red seats and give themselves slightly more breathing room in the House, where they hold a razor-thin majority. However, the Democratic Party candidates in the two special elections have vastly outraised the Republican nominees - thanks to an energized base eager to resist President Donald Trump and his sweeping and controversial agenda. The races, in Florida's 1st and 6th Congressional Districts, which Trump carried by 37 and 30 points in last year's presidential election, are being viewed as early referendums on the opening couple of months of Trump's second tour of duty in the White House. While the GOP was expected to sweep both races, some public and private polling suggests the 6th District showdown is now a margin-of-error race. What Trump Said About The Florida Special Elections Additionally, Trump, pointing to the Democratic candidates' massive fundraising advantage, voiced growing concerns by Republicans as he told reporters on Friday that "you never know what happens in a case like that." Read On The Fox News App Jimmy Patronis, the Florida chief financial officer, is favored over Democrat Gay Valimont in a multi-candidate field in the race to fill the vacant seat in the 1st CD, which is located in the far northwestern corner of Florida in the Panhandle region. However, Valimont topped Patronis in fundraising by roughly a five-to-one margin. What It Would Mean For The House Gop Majority If Republicans Lost One Of Tuesday's Elections: 'It Would Be Difficult' Republican Matt Gaetz, who won re-election in the district in last November's elections, resigned from office weeks later after Trump selected him to be his nominee for attorney general in his second administration. Gaetz later withdrew himself from Cabinet consideration amid controversy. However, it is the race in the 6th CD, which is located on Florida's Atlantic coast from Daytona Beach to just south of Saint Augustine and inland to the outskirts of Ocala, that is really raising concerns among some in the GOP. The race is to succeed Republican Michael Waltz, who stepped down from the seat on Jan. 20 after Trump named him his national security adviser. Republican state Sen. Randy Fine is facing off against teacher Josh Weil, a Democrat, in a multi-candidate field. What Americans Think Of The Job Trump's Doing Two Months Into His Second Term In The White House Weil grabbed plenty of national attention in recent weeks by topping Fine in the campaign cash battle by roughly a 10-to-1 margin. The cash discrepancy in the 6th CD race spurred GOP-aligned outside groups to make last-minute contributions in support of Fine, with conservative super PACs dishing out big bucks to launch ads spotlighting Trump's support of Fine and to take aim at Weil. "Liberal Josh Weil wants to roadblock the Trump agenda," the announcer in a spot from the Conservative Fighter PAC charges. America PAC - which is bankrolled by billionaire Elon Musk, Trump's top donor last year - made infusions as well during the closing days ahead of the election. Democrats Far From Thrilled On Possible Biden Political Reemergence "I would have preferred if our candidate had raised money at a faster rate and gotten on TV quicker," Rep. Richard Hudson of North Carolina, the chair of the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC), told reporters last week. However, Hudson added that Fine is "doing what he needs to do. He's on TV now," and he emphasized, "We're going to win the seat. I'm not concerned at all." Neither the NRCC nor the Congressional Leadership Fund, the top super PAC backing House Republicans, put any resources into the race. However, Trump headlined tele-town halls for both Fine and Patronis late last week, and he also took to social media on Saturday to praise both candidates, in efforts to turn out Republican voters. "Randy has been a tremendous Voice for MAGA," Trump wrote about Fine. "In Congress, Randy will be an incredible fighter." While Trump was optimistic about sweeping both Florida elections - saying "they seem to be good" - concerns about holding the seat in Florida's 6th CD may have contributed to the president's pulling last week of his nomination for GOP Rep. Elise Stefanik to serve as United Nations ambassador. Stefanik represents New York's 21st Congressional District, a large, mostly rural district in the northernmost reaches of the state that includes most of the Adirondack Mountains and the Thousand Islands region. She cruised to re-election last November by 24 points. "We don't want to take any chances. We don't want to experiment," Trump said as he pointed to what would have been a special election later this year to fill Stefanik's seat if she had resigned if confirmed as U.N. ambassador. "She's very popular. She's going to win. And somebody else will probably win, too, because we did very well there. I did very well there. But the word 'probably' is no good," the president added as he once again emphasized he did not "want to take any chances." Trump was not the only Republican expressing some concerns about the race in Florida's 6th District. Former top Trump political adviser and conservative host Steve Bannon warned last week that Fine "isn't winning." Additionally, two-term Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis told reporters last week that the GOP would underperform in the special election, arguing that "it's a reflection of the candidate running in that race." However, it is worth pointing out the contentious history between DeSantis and Fine, who was the first Florida Republican to flip his endorsement from DeSantis to Trump during the 2024 Republican presidential nomination battle. On the eve of the election, a Florida Republican official told Fox News the party is not panicked about the race, but rather "concerned." However, the official, who asked to remain anonymous to speak more freely, said a win is still likely by about 7-10 points. The GOP currently holds a 218-213 majority in the House - with the two vacant seats in Florida and two where Democratic lawmakers died in March. Republican Rep. Byron Donalds, in a Fox News Digital interview on Friday as he kicked off his 2026 campaign for Florida governor, predicted "it would be difficult" for the GOP House majority if the party lost one of Tuesday's elections. However, he added, "I'm not looking forward to that. I think we're going to win both those seats on Tuesday. I think Republican voters in those districts are going to turn out because, at the end of the day, the choice is clear." House Majority Whip Rep. Tom Emmer told Fox News Digital that "Jimmy Patronis and Randy Fine are exactly who House Republicans need to join our team." Emmer, the number three Republican in the House, emphasized that "their votes and leadership will be key as we work to advance President Trump's agenda in Congress and Make America Great Again." Democrats Sweep Twin Special Legislative Elections In Key Battleground State While the races in the two Republican-dominated districts are far from ideal for the Democrats to try and flip, the elections are the first opportunity for voters and donors to try and make a difference in federal contests since Trump's return to power in the White House. Democrats say the surge in fundraising for their candidates is a sign their party is motivated amid voters' frustrations with the sweeping and controversial moves made by Trump in his opening weeks back in office. They also point to last week's state senate election in battleground Pennsylvania, where the Democrats flipped a seat from red to blue that Trump easily carried in November's presidential election. "The American people are not buying what the Republicans are selling," House Minority Leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries told reporters. Jeffries and other Democrats are not predicting victory, and the House Democrats' campaign arm - the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee - has not invested resources in either race. However, Jeffries, the top Democrat in the House, highlighted that "these districts are so Republican there would ordinarily be no reason to believe that the races will be close, but what I can say almost guaranteed is that the Democratic candidate in both of these Florida special elections will significantly overperform." Fox News' Mark Meredith contributed to this reportOriginal article source: First election test for Trump's term surprisingly close in FL, GOP looks to increase razor-thin House majority
Yahoo
01-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
What to watch as Wisconsin and Florida host the first major elections of Trump's second term
The first major elections of President Doanld Trump's second term will take place on Tuesday, as voters head to the polls in Wisconsin, a perennial battleground, and in Trump-friendly territory in Florida. Tens of millions of dollars have poured into Wisconsin ahead of Tuesday's state Supreme Court race in a contest that could have huge national implications. It's the first major statewide contest in a battleground since the 2024 election — and it's happening in the state where Trump saw his narrowest margin-of-victory in November. Elon Musk has emerged as a major player in the Wisconsin race as he expands his political portfolio, providing Democrats with an early test for whether the billionaire Trump adviser can be an effective boogeyman. And in Florida, voters will head to the polls for special elections in the deep-red 1st and 6th Congressional Districts, where Republicans are looking to pad their razor-thin House majority. And though both districts are on Trump's turf, Republicans have been anxious that the races could prove to be competitive, as grassroots energy — and dollars — boost the Democratic contenders. Polls close at 7 p.m. ET in Florida's 6th District and 8 p.m. ET in the 1st District, which is in the central time zone. And polls in Wisconsin close at 9 p.m. ET. Tuesday's Wisconsin Supreme Court race marks the second time in two years that the bench's ideological majority will be at stake. Liberals on the technically nonpartisan court currently hold a 4-3 advantage, and another liberal win could keep that majority alive for at least one more year — while a conservative victory would give them the edge ahead of a term likely to see cases on abortion rights, unions and collective bargaining rights, and congressional maps and redistricting. The race is between liberal candidate Susan Crawford — a state judge in Madison who has received the backing of the state and national Democratic Party organizations, as well as the financial support, directly and indirectly, of a cadre of liberal billionaires — and Brad Schimel, a state judge and former Republican state attorney general who has the backing of Trump and Musk, the tech billionaire and leader of Trump's Department of Government Efficiency. However, more than Trump, who endorsed Schimel 11 days ahead of the race in a late-night social media post, it's been Musk who has taken on the starring role in the campaign on both sides. 'It's become kind of a referendum on the Trump administration, and what Elon Musk is doing as part of that, and Musk has amplified that by getting involved in Wisconsin,' explained Barry Burden, a political science professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. 'If there was any doubt about whether this election had a connection to national politics, Trump and Musk have made that connection for voters.' Musk and his super PAC have spent at least $15 million to boost Schimel, campaign finance records show, on top of three $1 million prizes Musk has awarded to those who signed his petition against 'activist judges.' He came to Wisconsin on Sunday night to campaign for Schimel in person. Democrats and groups supporting Crawford leaned heavily into making Musk the centerpiece of the race, attacking him in ads, on the trail, and on social media over his actions at DOGE and accusing him of 'trying to buy' Schimel. (Many groups also pointed out that Tesla, Musk's electric car company, filed a suit in Wisconsin in January challenging a state law banning carmakers from owning dealerships — a case that could potentially come before the state Supreme Court). Overall, Democrats and their affiliated outside groups have outspent Republicans on the airwaves — they've spent almost $42 million compared to almost $33 million from conservatives, enough to make it the most expensive state Supreme Court race on record, as far as ad spending, according to the ad-tracking firm AdImpact. Despite the level of attention and spending, the springtime, off-year contest, will feature far fewer voters than in presidential and midterm races — meaning that both sides have sought to juice their turnout on Tuesday. To that end, Schimel and Republican and conservative groups supporting him have heavily emphasized Trump's endorsement of Schimel — a move that could help turn out Republican voters in a state that Trump carried in two of the past three presidential elections. In addition to running ads touting the endorsement down the home stretch of the campaign, Schimel appeared at a campaign town hall event in March with Donald Trump Jr. and told a group of canvassers from the conservative group Turning Point USA that Trump needs a 'support network' around him to help him fight the myriad suits his administration has faced. While the race also included a barrage of messaging on both sides on crime and reproductive rights, groups supporting Schimel, in addition to focusing on Trump, built a closing message on the airwaves that attacked Crawford over transgender issues — a move that replicates the successful strategy Republicans and Trump used during the final weeks of their winning 2024 campaign. The pair of Florida special elections will be fought on Trump's territory, testing his influence over his base and Democrats' enthusiasm in the Trump era. Republicans are expecting to win both races, but there are concerns that closer-than-expected results could fuel a narrative of Democratic momentum. The winner in Florida's 1st District in the Panhandle will replace former GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz, while the 6th District winner will replace former GOP Rep. Mike Waltz, now Trump's national security adviser. Trump carried the 1st District by 37 points in November and the 6th by 30 points, according to election results from NBC News' Decision Desk. The races are more competitive due to expectations of lower turnout, which Democrats have leveraged in other special elections in the Trump era, and blockbuster fundraising from the two Democratic candidates. Republicans have raised more concerns about the 6th District race, where GOP state Sen. Randy Fine is competing against Democratic teacher Josh Weil, pointing to Fine's lackluster fundraising and late ad spending. In the 1st District, Florida Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis is facing Democrat Gay Valimont, a former activist with Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America who ran against Gaetz in November. Both Republican candidates have Trump's backing, and the president held tele-town halls for them last week, encouraging his voters to go to the polls. They've also gotten a boost from outside groups in recent days. Musk's super PAC has also jumped into the contests, spending nearly $100,000 on phone calls and texts in the races, according to filings with the Federal Election Commission. Neither Democratic candidate has directly targeted Musk in their ads. But both candidates suggested in recent interviews that the Musk-led effort to slash the size of the federal government, and potential GOP cuts to entitlement programs, could impact their races, since the 1st District has a large share of veterans and the 6th District has a sizable senior population. Further down the Wisconsin ballot on Tuesday are two other races that haven't garnered much national attention but have been major local issues. There is a proposed amendment to enshrine an existing voter ID law into the state constitution, as well as a state superintendent race that has also become somewhat of a referendum on the role Musk has played in downsizing the federal government. The voter ID law is already part of the state code, but conservatives want to add it to the constitution to make it more difficult to strike the law down — if, for example, a liberal-majority state Supreme Court were to invalidate the law with a ruling. Trump himself endorsed the proposed amendment in a social media post Monday. But many strategists in the state, including Republicans, have acknowledged another motivation for adding the question to the ballot was to juice conservative turnout in the state Supreme Court race. The race for the superintendent of public instruction — a job that oversees the state's education system — has taken on increased importance in the weeks since Trump signed an executive order to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education, thereby beginning a process to put far more responsibility on education policy directly in states' hands. Like the state Supreme Court contest, the technically nonpartisan race has taken on a distinctly partisan flavor. The incumbent, Dr. Jill Underly, is backed by the state Democratic Party, while her challenger, Brittany Kinser, has received the backing of conservative groups and funders, though she has called herself a moderate. Kinser is an education consultant who has made expanding school choice programs the main tenet of her campaign. Underly, who is in her first term, has attempted to tie Kinser to Trump's dismantling of the U.S. Department of Education, as well as Musk's DOGE effort. This article was originally published on
