Jacob Ogles
Democrat Josh Weil has raised an eye-popping $10 million for an April 1 Special Election in a Republican-leaning congressional district.
Weil faces Republican Randy Fine, a state Senator endorsed by President Donald Trump.
“Our campaign is about fighting back against the threats against health care and public schools,” Weil said in a statement. “I’m grateful for the hundreds of thousands of Floridians and regular Americans who still believe in a better future. It’s that grassroots energy that is going to defeat career politician Randy Fine and the huge corporations and special interests that own him and his campaign.”
The eight-figure haul for an uphill battle in Florida’s 6th Congressional District appears to be fueled by national discontent among Democrats following Trump’s return to the White House. Weil’s campaign said he collected more than $10 million from more than 240,440 donors in the form of 348,586 individual contributions.
None of those come from corporate PAC donations, according to the campaign. The average contribution was just $29. The checks came into the campaign from across the country.
The winner of the April 1 election will succeed former U.S. Rep. Michael Waltz, who resigned his seat to be Trump’s National Security Adviser. Waltz was one of three members of the House appointed by Trump to positions in his administration, two of whom represented Florida districts.
That gives the race some added significance considering the closely divided state of the House. Republicans enjoy a 218-213 majority over Democrats, and that exists only due to the deaths of two Democratic members this month. U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik, a New York Republican, expects to resign her seat once she is confirmed as the new U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations.
The close margin has drawn outsized attention to the two Special Elections for House seats in Florida. Gay Valimont, a Democrat running for former U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz’s seat in the Panhandle, last week told the Pensacola News-Journal she raised $6.7 million to run in Florida’s 1st Congressional District.
But in both CD 1 and CD 6, Democrats have bigger obstacles than money.
As of the March 3 closing of voter rolls, CD 6 had more than 273,000 Republicans registered and eligible to vote in the April 1 Special Election, compared to just over 142,000 Democrats. Another more than 143,000 voters are registered without party affiliation or with minor parties.
In CD 1, where Valimont faces Republican Jimmy Patronis, the margin is even more daunting for Democrats, with around 312,000 Republicans registered compared to fewer than 119,000 Democrats and about 136,000 other voters.
Neither Fine nor Patronis has yet announced fundraising ahead of the Special Election, and the last Federal Election Commission reports for any of the candidates still in the races date back to January.
But voters in the districts have previously leaned heavily Republican. Gaetz in November beat Valimont with more than 66% of the vote. Meanwhile, Waltz won his November race with almost 66% over Democrat James Stockton.
In the CD 6 Special Election, Libertarian Andrew Parrott and independent Randall Terry will also both appear on the ballot, as will a line for a write-in candidate. Likewise, independent Stephen Brody will appear on the CD 1 ballot, and voters can vote for write-in candidates there as well.
6 comments
EARL PITTS AMERICAN
March 20, 2025 at 6:43 am
Good Morn’Ting voters in the upcoming CD 6 Special Election,
STAND BY FOR SAGE WISDOM:
I know you all have that warning knocking inside your brains telling you, one and all, “How could a Putz like Josh Weil raise $10M???
Well Sage voters in the upcoming CD 6 Special Election, your brains are 100% on point.
The “One & Only Way” a Putz like Josh Weil could EVER raise $10M is this:
GEORGE SOROS MONEY.
IN CLOSING:
“Just Say NO to 1.) A Putz like Josh Weil AND 2.) Evil GEORGE SOROS MONEY”.
Thank you, voters in the upcoming CD 6 Special Election, you, one and all, know In Your Hearts that I, EARL PITTS AMERICAN, am 100% correct on this “Issue Of All-Critical Concern” to my “Beloved Voters” the upcoming CD 6 Special Election.
I Love You Voters,
EARL PITTS AMERICAN
*FREE BUMPER STICKER*
*EARL SAYS: “VOTE NO TO SOROS BACKED JOSH WEIL”*
wORST ENEMY
March 20, 2025 at 11:18 am
I GUESS IT’S BETTER TO VOTE FOR A CRIMINAL LIKE fINE, RIGHT, PARTICULARLY BECAUSE HE’S A jEW LIKE YOU? RUMP, fINE, AND ALL THE REST OF YOU, WHO BUY OUR POLITICIANS WITH OUR OWN MONEY, AS THE JEWS DO BY WAY OF AIPAC, YOU BETTER CELEBRATE NOW, BECAUSE YOUR DAY IS COMING!
Greg David
March 20, 2025 at 11:22 am
Hey Earl. From where do you get your (mis)information? How do you know that Fine hasn’ received yacht-fulls of $$ from Musk, Dark-money hidden PACs?.Substantiate your words or shut-down… Government has always done efforts the for-profit sector won’t do like: build/maintain infrastructure especially in rural areas, support public education in poor areas, subsidize cost to build low-income housing, medical/agriculture research, even help POC who lost out getting into the housing booms of the 1950s+ due to Red-Lining… And if you believe in ‘christianity’… ‘From those who have much, much is expected’. aka help they neighbor, feed, shelter the poor…
Liz Actual Sensible American
March 20, 2025 at 4:02 pm
Or it could be that EVERYONE in the country wants him to win and is sending him money so that the destruction of the country underway by Dumb and Dumber is halted. TRUMP is a pariah. Reason and common sense and the rule of law has another supporter in Josh Weil. Everything is not about effing George Soros. If he had all the power you attribute to him, TRUMP would be living in Russia.
David Velardo
March 20, 2025 at 12:51 pm
The Republicans I voted for are pathetic, they do not stand up to Trump, nor will he. What Trump wants Trump gets, even if toxic for us. I want someone there who will stand up and protect my social security and protect those who bleed for our nation and are now being fired and betrayed! Rand Fine is nothing but a yes ma, if even that, the only way to ensure social security is to vote for those who believe in its mission and not those who say like that EVIL MUSK that social security is a Ponzi Scheme. Do you know what is a Ponzi Scheme, a Ponzi scheme is Elon Musk and Trump’s latest BitCoin that raised billions of dollars from suckers and made Trump and Musk billions while bankrupting thousands of investors? We are seeing through this Trump BS and we are already tired of it. This is not what we voted for. So Fine needs to be defeated, if not, say goodbye to Social Security, because when they do close it down, Fine will not say a word.
The Truth
March 20, 2025 at 4:09 pm
It’s as simple as this: A School Teacher vs The Casino Operator. I do understand you can never beat the “House.” I tend to break things down to the lowest common denominator – Schools or Casino’s. I’ve made my choice …