- November 27, 2024
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TALLAHASSEE — With the backing of President-elect Donald Trump, state Sen. Randy Fine said Tuesday he will run for a congressional seat being vacated by U.S. Rep. Mike Waltz.
Fine’s announcement Tuesday came weeks after the Brevard County lawmaker was elected to the Florida Senate. Fine said he will step down from the Senate in March, about midway through the 2025 legislative session.
“I believe that when President Trump was saved in Butler, he was saved so that he could save the world,” Fine said during an appearance Tuesday morning on FOX News, referring to an assassination attempt on the then-presidential candidate in July. “And when he said he thought I could help him, I knew I didn't have a choice.”
Waltz this week submitted his resignation from Congressional District 6 after being nominated by Trump as national security advisor. The Republican-leaning district is made up of all of Flagler County, parts of Volusia, including Ormond Beach, and parts of Lake, Marion, Putnam and St. Johns counties.
Fine, whose latest financial disclosure report showed a net worth of $30.3 million, was an early Trump supporter in the GOP presidential primary and has unabashedly signaled his allegiance to Trump on social media.
Trump “needs fighters who will Make America Wealthy Again, Make American Safe Again, and someone who will stand up for Israel. That is why today I’m announcing my candidacy,” Fine posted on X after announcing his candidacy Tuesday.
The only Jewish Republican legislator in Florida, Fine often has taken an openly combative approach to political opponents, an image he has embraced publicly. “Unafraid to say what needs to be said,” Fine’s X profile boasts.
A former casino executive, Fine was first elected to the Florida House in 2016 and served until his move to the Senate this year.
Fine’s resignation letter Tuesday to Gov. Ron DeSantis and Senate President Ben Albritton, R-Wauchula, said the senator’s last day in the Legislature would be March 31, allowing him to serve nearly half of the 60-day regular legislative session that begins March 4.
Fine replaced state Rep. Debbie Mayfield, R-Melbourne, a former state representative who left the Senate due to term limits and was reelected to the Florida House on Nov. 5.
Sarasota Republican Sen. Joe Gruters, who has Trump’s backing to run for chief financial officer in 2026, posted on X that Mayfield would “be great back in the Senate.”
Mayfield thanked Gruters for the support but did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Waltz's resignation is set to go into effect Jan. 20, the day of Trump's inauguration.
A special primary election for Waltz's seat will take place on Jan. 28 and a special general election is set for April 1. The same special election dates are set for a Northwest Florida congressional seat vacated by former U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz.
Apart from Fine, other people who’ve expressed interest replacing Waltz include former Marion County School Board member Don Browning, Air Force veteran Steve Rance, former Flagler County Commissioner Joe Mullins and Ernest Audino, Waltz’s district director. Jacksonville City Councilor Rory Diamond and Lake County Commissioner Anthony Sabatini, a former state House representative, also have said they are interested in the race.
The qualifying period for candidates to file paperwork for the race begins at 8 a.m. on Dec. 6 and runs through noon on Dec. 7.
Fine, who currently does not live in the congressional district, said during Tuesday’s FOX News appearance that his resume in the Legislature should set him apart from the field.
“I've got an eight year track record in Florida fighting on the issues that matter most,” Fine said. “Whether it was running the largest school choice expansion in the history of the state, or banning transgender mutilation surgeries for children when the tip of the spear needed a warrior, that's what I did.”
Fine also said Republicans don’t have a big window to “literally save this country.”
“Midterms will be before you know it,” Fine said. “So we have to prove to the American people that that mandate was worth it. We need to row the boat in the same direction, and I will be rowing as hard as I can to make that happen.”
Fine backed Trump over Gov. Ron DeSantis in the Republican presidential primary and Trump reciprocated in February by endorsing Fine’s bid for the state Senate.
“Should (Fine) decide to enter this race, Randy Fine as my complete and total endorsement. Run, Randy, Run!” Trump posted on Truth social over the weekend.
Fine, one of the Legislature’s most-fierce debaters, responded to the president-elect’s endorsement on social media.
“Clearly Mom wasted no time once she made it upstairs,” Fine, whose mother recently died, posted on X. “Mr. President, G-d saved you on that day in Butler so that you could save the world. It would be the honor of my life to be one of your footsoldiers. Your confidence is overwhelming and I will have news to share soon!”
