Special elections give House GOP more breathing room

After voting concluded for Tuesday’s special elections, Republicans held on to a pair of House seats in Florida—one formerly held by Mike Waltz, now Trump’s national security adviser, and another by former Rep. Matt Gaetz.

The results pad the tight margins in the House of Representatives for the GOP majority.  But it also returns a degree of hopefulness to Democrats who have struggled to find a political North Star since November’s general election, when they lost control of the Senate and White House.

House Republican newcomers Jimmy Patronis and Randy Fine won their races by 14.6% and 14.0%, respectively.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., was quick to point out on Wednesday that those margins were smaller than expected.

“Florida [District] 01—Donald Trump won by 31 points in November. Florida 06 he won by 30 points,” Jeffries said at a news conference on Wednesday. “These are deeply Republican districts. Why in the world were they even competitive? The Democratic candidate in both districts dramatically overperformed.”

Coming into the race, House Republicans anticipated victories in Florida.

“We’re good—we’re going to win them,” Rep. Lisa McClain, the House GOP Conference Chair, told WORLD on Tuesday.

“When Democrats overspend on a 10-to-1 basis, and we still win, I think we’re in pretty good shape. Ten million dollars—that’s a pretty good investment on our end,” McClain said, referencing the funding Democrats had poured into the combined races.

According to Federal Election Commission records, Josh Weil, the Democratic candidate in Florida’s 6th Congressional District, raised $9.4 million for his campaign. Gay Valimont, the candidate in the 1st District, accumulated $6.4 million.

The two races add to the two-vote majority Republicans hold in the House of Representatives. 

“They enable us to double our majority from two to four,” House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., said on Tuesday. “[It’s] very significant. You’re doubling your majority. Four doesn’t sound like a large majority, but when you only have a two-seat majority, it’s a big improvement.”