MIAMI — Republicans’ all-hands-on-deck strategy in a tight Florida special election pulled state Sen. Randy Fine into the House on Tuesday, an outcome that slightly increases the margins President Donald Trump will have to work with as he tries to push his agenda through Congress.
Trump-endorsed Fine won in a special election against Democrat Josh Weil, a progressive and a teacher, despite nervousness from national party operatives and closer-than-expected polling. He was ahead by more than 10 percentage points Wednesday morning, with most votes counted.
Fine, a bare-knuckle former gambling executive who embraces the nickname the “Hebrew Hammer,” will add another firebrand to Florida’s congressional delegation.
The seat in Florida’s 6th District was up for grabs after former Rep. Mike Waltz (R) joined the Trump administration as national security adviser. National interest in the election surged in recent days, in part because Waltz has been at the center of a political firestorm after accidentally adding The Atlantic’s editor-in-chief to a sensitive group chat discussing attack plans in Yemen.
