Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Friday that April 1, 2025, which is April Fool's Day, will be the special election to fill the congressional seat vacated by former GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz.
The primary for the special election will be Jan. 28, 2025.
"This Special Election is being conducted as quickly as statutorily possible," Florida Secretary of State Cord Byrd said. "We are committed to ensuring this election is held as soon as we are allowed to hold it by state law. This special election will be faster than we have ever done before."
The announcement came hours after Gaetz said in an interview that he would not return to Congress in the aftermath of withdrawing from consideration for attorney general on Thursday.
"I'm still going to be in the fight, but it's going to be from a new perch. I do not intend to join the 119th Congress," Gaetz told Charlie Kirk on his radio show Friday.
Gaetz, who was first elected to the House in 2016, resigned after being tapped by Trump for his administration. But because he won reelection in November to the next Congress, it was unclear whether he might seek to return to his old position.
Six Republicans so far have announced plans to run for Gaetz's vacated 1st Congressional District seat in northwest Florida, one of the most conservative districts in the state. They include John Frankman, who was a U.S. Army captain and Green Beret, and Republican state Reps. Michelle Salzman and Joel Rudman. Florida Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis said he is "strongly considering" a bid, too.
DeSantis will have a second special election to schedule in Florida's 6th District once Rep. Mike Waltz resigns from Congress. He has been tapped by Trump to be national security adviser.
DeSantis will also have to name a replacement for Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., who is President-elect Donald Trump's pick for U.S. secretary of state. DeSantis said that will likely come early in January.
Whoever he taps for the seat will have to run in a special election in 2026 to serve out the remaining two years of Rubio's term, which ends in 2028.