With the Republican primary just two weeks away to choose a GOP candidate for the special election to fill the seat vacated when Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz resigned, the two leading candidates — Jimmy Patronis and Joel Rudman — are gearing up for the contest, BallotPedia reported on Tuesday.
Gaetz won re-election to his seat in the November election, but resigned a week later before taking office on the same day that President-elect Donald Trump nominated him for attorney general. A week later, Gaetz withdrew from consideration for the nomination.
In the primary, Trump has endorsed Patronis, who has been Florida's chief financial officer since 2017.
Patronis said that "there's nobody that will work harder than" himself, adding that, "I've got a heck of a work record of accomplishments, and I intend to take what I've been doing for the last 10 years for the entire state of Florida and make a difference in the district."
He said that, "when President Trump asked me to run for Congress, to go to Washington and fight for him, my answer was 'Yes, sir.' "
Rudman, who is a physician specializing in family medicine, said that "I didn't get a call from D.C. to run for this race. I got a call from the citizens who are sitting in this room to run for this race, and that's why I'm here."
Rudman previously worked for 13 years as a NASCAR staff physician at Daytona International Speedway and was a representative in the Florida House from 2002 until he resigned at the beginning of this year in order to run in the special election, which is the first one for this Congress.
Rudman said that "people see me as a freedom fighter. And I think my record speaks for itself. You know, in my one term in the Florida House, I passed a medical freedom law that was the first of its kind in the nation. And then for a follow-up act, I came back in my second session, and I sponsored a common-sense 2nd Amendment Bill, one that got me named Florida legislator of the Year by the Gun Owners of America."
The eight other Republican candidates running in the January 28 primary are: Aaron Dimmock, Kevin Gaffney, Jeff Macey, Greg Merk, John Mills, Michael Thompson and Gene Valentino.
The winner will run in the general special election on April 1 against Democrat Gay Valimont, Independent Stephen Broden and four other write-in candidates.