Jacob Ogles
Former Florida Senate President Mike Haridopolos has officially secured the Republican nomination in the race to succeed U.S. Rep. Bill Posey.
Haridopolos secured more than 72% of the vote, according to unofficial election results. Meanwhile, John Hearton won under 22%, and 6% of voters backed Joe Babits, who dropped out last week but remained on the ballot.
“Thank you for your overwhelming support!” Haridopolos posted on X. “We are honored to be the Republican nominee in FL-8.”
Lawyer Sandy Kennedy earned the Democratic nomination in Florida’s 8th Congressional District, winning 85% of the vote over West Melbourne City Councilman Daniel McDow.
But the National Republican Congressional Committee voiced confidence Haridopolos would join the U.S. House in January.
“Congratulations to Mike Haridopolos on his primary election victory. Mike has faithfully served the Sunshine State as a Florida House member and the Florida Senate President,” reads a statement from NRCC spokesperson Delanie Bomar. “Mike is ready to fight for border security and to tackle Bidenflation head-on. We have no doubt the voters will send him to Congress this November.”
Haridopolos always appeared to be the front-runner in the race, if only because no other high-profile candidate could run.
The Indian Harbour Beach Republican filed shortly before the qualifying deadline in April. Within hours, Posey announced he would not seek re-election and instead endorsed Haridopolos, the longtime Chair of his congressional finance committee. The timing of the news precluded many area pols waiting for Posey’s retirement to explore a run for Congress in CD 8.
Babits and Hearton had already qualified for the ballot, intending to challenge Posey this year. Babits ultimately suspended his campaign and endorsed Hearton in an attempt to consolidate opposition to Haridopolos.
“I call Florida home now. I do not want to be away from here. But we need DC to work in many ways more like Florida,” Hearton said.
But Haridopolos, while avoiding any seasoned opposition, took nothing for granted. Running a campaign primarily on the message, “Let’s make America affordable again,” he participated in multicandidate debates and waved signs at early voting locations, running like he had ground to make up. He also stressed his background as a legislative leader in Florida, and said Brevard County deserves that expertise in Washington.
“Washington, unfortunately, is broken right now, and we need to send our best and brightest up to Washington, because a lot of problems need to be fixed,” he said at a WESH-hosted debate in July.
“When I was the President of the Senate, I made sure that illegal aliens did not get a driver’s license. When I was Senate President, I led the largest tax cut in Florida history, over $2 billion a year, since 2008. And finally, as Senate President, we faced a budget shortfall of $4 billion. Everyone said we have to raise taxes in order to balance it. I said, heck no, I balanced the budget. (I worked) with (then-Gov.) Rick Scott without raising taxes, and it led to the great Florida economic comeback.”
He also secured endorsements from now-U.S. Sen. Scott, former President and 2024 presidential nominee Donald Trump, U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio and the entire Florida Cabinet. More recently, Gov. Ron DeSantis endorsed the campaign as well.
“I am the only candidate with a proven record of conservative leadership. I am proudly endorsed by President Trump, Governor DeSantis, Congressman Bill Posey, and the NRA,” Haridopolos said. “In Washington, I will always put America First and fight for our conservative values.”
Through the end of July, Haridopolos raised more than $1.2 million and spent over $478,000. Hearton, by comparison, raised about $335,000.
Haridopolos also benefited from the Fight for Florida super PAC, which also spent more than $157,000 through July on ads boosting the former Senate President.
Haridopolos said he wanted to win on a positive campaign.
The Republican nominee now advances to face an underfunded Democrat in the General Election. Kennedy and McDow through July raised less than $90,000 combined.
Additionally, the district already leans heavily to the right. Posey won his last election with 65% of the vote over Democrat JoAnne Terry in 2022. The same election, more than 62% of voters in the district supported re-electing DeSantis and Rubio. An election cycle before, more than 58% of voters in the district backed Trump for President.
