Gaetz sails to fifth term in Florida

Rep. Matt Gaetz (R) sailed to victory Tuesday in Florida's western panhandle, Decision Desk HQ projects, easily staving off a challenge from Democrat Gay Valimont, a gun reform advocate, to secure a fifth term on Capitol Hill.

The result was never in doubt. Florida’s 1st District is heavily conservative: Trump won there in 2020 by more than 32 points, and Gaetz has seen his star rise as a brash defender of the former president and the false claims that the 2020 election was stolen.

The district is also home to a number of military facilities, and many voters are wary of any new restrictions on the right to buy and own firearms.

Gaetz has made his mark since arriving on Capitol Hill, where he’s well known for his willingness to go after leaders in his party. He helped to topple former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), after she voted to impeach Trump following the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.

And in the current Congress, Gaetz made even bigger waves when he led the successful effort to oust a sitting Speaker — former Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) — for the first time in the nation’s history.

That episode made Gaetz a pariah among McCarthy’s allies in the Capitol, and it earned him a primary challenge this year from Aaron Dimmock, a Navy veteran who was backed by McCarthy. But the internal battle between traditionalist Republicans, like McCarthy, and far-right iconoclasts, like Gaetz, has been no contest: Gaetz beat Dimmock by 45 points.

Gaetz has remained popular despite a series of accusations that, as a congressman, he used illegal recreational drugs and had sexual relations with a 17-year-old girl — charges he has adamantly denied. The Justice Department last year dropped its investigation into the allegations, but the House Ethics Committee has continued its probe, leading to speculation that the panel might release its findings in the post-election lame-duck session.

Valimont, who was running for office for the first time, has made clear that Florida Democrats will be watching closely for that report.