Aaron Dimmock, months after challenging Matt Gaetz in Primary, jumps into Special Election to replace him

Aaron Dimmock, the Republican challenger recruited by former Speaker Kevin McCarthy against Matt Gaetz, is running again for the seat in Florida’s 1st Congressional District.

The Pensacola Republican filed with the state and paid a $10,440 qualifying fee on Friday morning, hours before the qualification deadline for a Special Election to replace Gaetz in Congress.

Gaetz resigned from Congress after President-elect Donald Trump nominated him for Attorney General. While Gaetz withdrew from consideration amid a tough confirmation process, he made clear he does not plan to be sworn into Congress for a new term in January.

Gov. Ron DeSantis has called a Special Election in CD 1 to fill the seat. A Primary will be held on Jan. 28, where Dimmock will be one of many Republicans on the ballot.

Located in the Panhandle and anchored by Pensacola, CD 1 is one of the most conservative districts in the state. Gaetz was elected to the seat in 2016, winning more than 69% of the vote. This year, he won with 66% of the vote. More than 53% of the electorate is registered as a Republican, according to the most recent L2 voter data. Only 22% of the district’s voters are registered as Democrats.

Gaetz easily fended off a Primary challenge from Dimmock in August, winning 71% of the Republican vote in the district. The landslide win came after Gaetz spent almost $6.7 million on his re-election, much of that painting Dimmock as an outsider recruited from St. Louis to run and as a professional advocate of diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.

Still, Dimmock walks into the race after spending almost $311,000 promoting himself to voters in CD 1, an advantage no other Republican running can claim. That total doesn’t count hundreds of thousands in outside spending from groups connected to McCarthy, though much of that went toward attacking Gaetz.

McCarthy resigned from Congress at the end of 2023, months after Gaetz successfully led an ouster of the California Republican as Speaker, a first in the history of Congress. Afterward, McCarthy repeatedly asserted that Gaetz came after him only to stop a House Ethics Committee investigation over allegations of sexual misconduct and drug use by the Fort Walton Beach Republican.

The Ethics Committee was reportedly planning to release a report on that investigation days after Gaetz’s resignation from Congress, but has not released any findings since Gaetz vacated his seat. The fate of that report remains uncertain.

It remains to be seen whether McCarthy still plans to rally his own political allies, including national donors, behind Dimmock’s candidacy now that Gaetz has left Congress willingly.