MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
There are two special elections in Florida today that have attracted national attention and millions in campaign spending. The races are for two seats in Congress in districts that are heavily Republican, but as NPR's Greg Allen reports, Democrats think they have a chance to flip them.
GREG ALLEN, BYLINE: The central issue in the Florida races is President Trump. He leaned heavily on Florida to staff his administration. The seat in Florida's 1st Congressional District, on the panhandle, was left vacant when Republican Matt Gaetz was nominated to be his attorney general. Gaetz later withdrew and left Congress, leaving his seat open. Florida's chief financial officer, Republican Jimmy Patronis, is running for the seat with Trump's endorsement. His opponent is Democrat Gay Valimont, who's raised more than $6 million, several times that of her opponent. In the other race, in Florida's 6th Congressional District on the east coast, candidates are looking to fill a seat left vacant when Republican Mike Waltz was named Trump's national security adviser. The Republican in that race, Randy Fine, has also been endorsed by Trump, who did a campaign call for him last week.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Randy will always have a very open door to the Oval Office. He will be there whenever I need him.
ALLEN: Fine's Democratic opponent, Josh Weil, has raised some $10 million, 10 times that of his opponent. Two recent polls show that race within the margin of error, a dramatic turnaround from November when the incumbent Republican won by more than 30 points. Democratic Party Chairman Ken Martin was in Florida campaigning for Weil over the weekend.
KEN MARTIN: And I'll tell you, the response has been overwhelming for Josh Weil. We have a real shot to win this on Tuesday.
ALLEN: Democrats think these races give them a chance to whittle down the narrow majority Republicans currently have in Congress. President Trump indicated he was concerned about that possibility when he announced last week that New York Republican Representative Elise Stefanik was withdrawing as his nominee to be U.N. ambassador. Instead, she'll remain in Congress.
Greg Allen, NPR News, Miami. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.
