Doug Broxson won’t run to succeed Matt Gaetz in Congress

broxson
The former state lawmaker said a younger politician should fill the currently vacant seat.

Former state Sen. Doug Broxson won’t be running to succeed U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz in Congress.

The Gulf Breeze Republican, who represented part of the Panhandle in the Legislature for more than a decade, ended speculation about whether he may run in a potential Special Election in Florida’s 1st Congressional District.

The 75-year-old said he believes the region will be better served by a lawmaker who intends to build seniority over time.

“It has been gratifying to have so many friends and family in both Washington and our local area calling me to offer support if I were to present myself as a candidate for Congressional District 1, but I believe that now is the time for someone to step into Matt Gaetz’s position who is younger and can represent us in Congress with the same energy that he has over the past several years,” he said.

“I wanted to officially make my position known so that the voters can begin to focus on making a decision about the many other great candidates who are expressing an interest in running.”

Broxson served in the Florida Senate from 2016 through 2022, and before that in the Florida House from 2010 to 2016.

Gaetz resigned his seat after President-elect Donald Trump nominated him for Attorney General. However, the same day Broxson announced he would not run, Gaetz withdrew his name from consideration. Now it remains an open question if Gaetz will still leave the seat vacant or be sworn in on Jan. 3 to a fifth term.

The potential for a Special Election, however, has drawn several candidates into the race, including state Reps. Joel Rudman and Michelle Salzman, former U.S. Senate candidate Keith Gross and Bikers for Trump leader Bernadette Pittman.

“Like all of our constituents, I’ll be making my own evaluation of the candidates based on their values, willingness to fight the overreach of federal government, and commitment to America’s military and veterans,” Broxson said. “This will be an important decision and one that we need to make sure that we get right.”

Jacob Ogles

Jacob Ogles has covered politics in Florida since 2000 for regional outlets including SRQ Magazine in Sarasota, The News-Press in Fort Myers and The Daily Commercial in Leesburg. His work has appeared nationally in The Advocate, Wired and other publications. Events like SRQ’s Where The Votes Are workshops made Ogles one of Southwest Florida’s most respected political analysts, and outlets like WWSB ABC 7 and WSRQ Sarasota have featured his insights. He can be reached at [email protected].


One comment

  • A Day without @?

    November 21, 2024 at 6:11 pm

    Lots of White people are doomed, especially lots of them old one ,find themselves alienated from their family,their children do not want have anything to do with them,dump in home and forget about them,this is faith of lots of White Spiteful People will have ,if they do change their ways

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