Republicans defeat Democrats in two special elections in Florida to retain slim margin in US House

Two special elections held on Tuesday were decided by Florida voters in favor of Republicans, maintaining their tenuous control of the U.S. House of Representatives.

The elections were in two Republican-leaning districts, and either loss would have meant a weakening of the narrow lead Republicans have in the House, which is currently only five seats.

‘If the president were on the ballot, I think he’d win by 30 again.’

Republicans Randy Fine and Jimmy Patronis held off Josh Weil and Gay Valimont, respectively, in what turned out to be a far closer race than expected. Fine was declared the victor against Weil in the 6th Congressional District at about 7:40 p.m. ET, while Patronis was projected the winner over Valimont about 20 minutes later.

Fine responded to a message of victory from President Donald Trump on social media.

“Because of you, Mr. President. I won’t let you down,” wrote Fine.

Prior to the election results coming in, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, rejected the idea that the election was a referendum on the president.

“I think it’s going to be more of a candidate-specific reason,” DeSantis said. “If there’s any underperformance, I don’t think it’s a referendum on the president. If the president were on the ballot, I think he’d win by 30 again.”

While Democrats lost an opportunity to make up the gap with Republicans in the House, they saw a silver lining in the fact that they were able to significantly cut into the margin in the 6th District.

Also on Tuesday, voters in Wisconsin headed to the ballot box to vote for a seat on the state supreme court. The election will likely determine if the state’s districts will be realigned, and many believe President Donald Trump will be impeached if Democrats regain control of the House because of the result.

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