On Tuesday, April 1st, Floridians will once again return to the ballot box. Voters are expected to decide who will replace two Republican congressmen: Matt Gaetz, who resigned to avoid being expelled from the House after investigations into his alleged parties with underage girls and drugs; and Mike Waltz, who retired after President Donald Trump appointed him to his Cabinet as National Security Adviser.
Voting is also taking place in Wisconsin, not for the House or Senate, but for a local election that shines a spotlight on Elon Musk, who handed out a million dollars to two attendees of the Republican candidate’s rally. It remains to be seen whether his money makes the difference in that state’s Supreme Court elections.
In Florida, the race is between Republican Jimmy Patronis and Democrat Gay Valimont for the seat that belonged to Gaetz. Meanwhile, the seat held by Waltz pits conservative Randy Fine against Democrat Josh Weil. Both districts went overwhelmingly for Trump last November.
For two other seats left vacant by the sudden death of Democratic congressmen in early March, Sylvester Turner in Texas and Raul Grijalva in Arizona, special elections will be held in September.
The House of Representatives consists of 435 members: 218 Republicans, 213 Democrats. Control of the House is not at stake, but Democrats are hoping for a victory both to erode the Republican majority and to try to regroup after the heavy defeat on Nov. 5 and try to re-energize their supporters demoralized by the repeated inroads made by the White House. There is no doubt that a double GOP victory will give further strength to the transformations imposed by the president, while a double defeat by them could be a signal that the country wants to put a stop to the political agenda implemented so far.
It should be noted that in the two House elections, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis distanced himself from the candidates chosen by the president, claiming that Randy Fine and Jimmy Patronis don’t stand a chance because “they are not Trump,” who would instead overwhelmingly win by 30 points. And perhaps that is precisely why the president has gone full-throttle supporting both. “Patronis is running an incredible campaign,” Trump said in a video message broadcast during one of his rallies, ”he’s a friend and as a congressman he’s going to fight hard to grow our economy, reduce taxes, secure the border. The whole country is watching this election. It is really important. Jimmy has a big lead in the polls, but we have to make it even bigger to prevent the result from being rigged,” yet again repeating the lies of election fraud. In recent days, funds from Elon Musk’s super PAC have also arrived in support of the Patronis campaign, showing that campaign fundraising is not going as well as the president makes it out to be.
Trump reiterated the same message during his second rally in support of state senator Randy Fine, who is being challenged by popular Democrat Josh Weil. The concerns shown by Ron DeSantis about Fine are shared by many other Republicans in this electoral district that includes Daytona Beach. Most doubters point out that the Trump-imposed state senator has raised less than $1 million, while opponent Weil over the same period has raised $10 million. Fine’s long militancy in the Republican ranks has given him a reputation for not teaming up with fellow Florida party members. Many of his colleagues point out his prickly character, surprised at the support the president has given him, which risks making him look bad in a solidly Republican area.
In Wisconsin, Elon Musk attended a rally in support of Brad Schimel, a conservative candidate for a state Supreme Court seat. Just hours before the polls opened, the billionaire Trump ally made a stop in Green Bay to meet voters and delivered in person two checks for $1 million each to event attendees whose names were drawn by lottery. Schimel was not present at this raffle. Altogether the Tesla leader has spent over $20 million to support the GOP candidate in this election against Democrat Susan Crawford. Despite appeals from local Republicans, the president chose not to travel to the state and preferred to send messages criticizing Crawford, calling her “an out-of-touch progressive who would throw our country and the state of Wisconsin into total chaos.”
Susan Crawford has the support of most of Wisconsin’s elected judges, the Bar Association, as well as the teachers’ union and the Wisconsin Laborers’ District Council, which groups a dozen different unions such as the electricians’ and tailors’ unions.
Following Elon Musk’s “gifts,” this election will be a test of the South African financier’s political and financial influence in a local contest, having spent $12 million through his America PAC to support the candidacy of conservative Brad Schimel.
