Ap Decision Notes: What To Expect In Florida's Special Congressional Primaries

Control of the U.S. House isn't on the line in Tuesday's special congressional primaries in Florida, but Republicans are still eager to find replacements for former GOP Reps. Matt Gaetz and Michael Waltz to add some breathing room to their slender majority in the chamber.

President Donald Trump looms large in the race, in both Tuesday's primary and the special general election on April 1. He's endorsed candidates in both GOP primaries and easily carried both districts in the November election.

Trump has backed state Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis among a crowded 10-person field in Gaetz's former 1st Congressional District. In Waltz's 6th Congressional District, he endorsed state Rep. Randy Fine over two other candidates. Fine represents a Brevard County-based state Senate district located outside the Palm Coast-area seat he hopes to fill.

Gun control activist Gay Valimont is unopposed for the Democratic nomination in the 1st District. She challenged Gaetz for the seat in November, receiving 34 of the vote. Democrats George Selmont and Josh Weil compete for the nomination in the 6th District. Selmont is an attorney and filmmaker who ran for a neighboring congressional seat in 2018. He received 32 of the vote against GOP Rep. John Rutherford. Weil is a public school educator in Osceola County.

The 1st Congressional District borders Alabama on the Gulf Coast in the westernmost part of the Florida panhandle. It is home to both Naval Air Station Pensacola and Eglin Air Force Base. The district is among the most reliably Republican areas of the state. The four counties that make up the 1st District have voted for Republican presidential candidates almost continually for the past 60 years.