Although Florida has over 13 million registered voters, it didn’t take long for the Sunshine State to count most of the votes in Tuesday’s primary. (Admittedly, only a fraction of those registered voters cast their ballots in the primary, but Florida still managed to announce the results quickly.)
Particularly noteworthy is the re-election of Matt Gaetz in Florida’s 1st Congressional District. Gaetz ran against Aaron Dimmick, who was supported with $3 million by former Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy – whose downfall Gaetz was largely responsible for.
US Representative Matt Gaetz defeats Kevin McCarthy-backed opponent in Florida’s Republican primary. McCarthy’s political action committee spent $3 million against Gaetz. https://t.co/PhQMsWpYGf
— Associated Press (@AP) 21 August 2024
With 90 percent of the vote in the 1st District, Gaetz is 45 points ahead of Dimmick.
Kevin McCarthy plans “revenge” against those who pushed him out
Matt Gaetz apparently continues his feud with Kevin McCarthy
by pursuing his primary picks
According to the AP:
One example is U.S. Representative Matt Gaetz, who defeated an opponent backed by former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy to win the Republican primary in one of Florida’s most conservative congressional districts.
Gaetz defeated former Navy pilot Aaron Dimmock, who was backed by a McCarthy-controlled political committee. Gaetz is seen as a sure winner over Democrat Gay Valimont in a district where Republicans tend to be represented by a ratio of more than 2:1.
Gaetz led the effort to oust McCarthy from office last year, and McCarthy in turn used his political action committee to spend $3 million against Gaetz. The committee aired ads claiming that Gaetz paid for sex with a 17-year-old. That allegation is currently being investigated by the House Ethics Committee. Gaetz maintains his innocence.
Barring a surprise, Gaetz is expected to win his fifth term in Congress, where he has earned a national reputation as a troublemaker and staunch Trump ally.
Gaetz’s Democratic opponent in November will be Homosexual Valimonta sports coach and gun violence prevention activist. It’s safe and sound to say that a surprise isn’t particularly likely there.
Incumbent Republican Senator Rick Scott also won a clear victory: When 86 percent of the votes were counted, Scott received almost 85 percent of the votes cast.
