One upcoming special election in a typically red district has some Republicans nervous about their prospects due to the latest fundraising numbers by the Democratic candidate.
According to a Monday report in NBC News, Democrat Josh Weil is vastly out-raising Republican Randy Fine in the special election in Florida's 6th Congressional District. The network reported that Weil has brought in nearly $10 million for his campaign war chest, while Fine — who has the endorsement of President Donald Trump — has raised just $561,000.
Fine's campaign has also been sluggish on letting voters know about the April 1 special election, with his campaign committee only now starting to spend money on TV ads as of mid-March. Rep. Richard Hudson (R-N.C.), who leads the main campaign arm for House Republican candidates, said Fine "needs to do better" when it comes to catching up with his Democratic opponent. Fine reportedly has since contributed $600,000 of his own money to his campaign in order to bolster his operations.
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“I would have preferred if our candidate had raised money at a faster rate and gotten on TV quicker,” Hudson said. “But he’s doing what he needs to do. He’s on TV now. We’re going to win the seat. I’m not concerned at all.”
The 6th District, which was made vacant after former Rep. Mike Waltz (R-Fla.) was named as Trump's National Security Adviser, is solidly Republican. Current Republican Governor Ron DeSantis represented the district after he was elected in 2012, and held the seat until his first gubernatorial election in 2018. An unnamed veteran Republican strategist frustrated with Fine's fundraising numbers told NBC: "Randy will win because the seat is so Republican and because so much money came in late, but this is a case of Team Trump dragging him over the finish line
However, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) expressed hope that Weil was still running an effective campaign despite the odds being against him. He added that "the American people are not buying what the Republican Party is selling."
"These districts are so Republican there would ordinarily be no reason to believe that the races will be close, but what I can say almost guaranteed is that the Democratic candidate in both of these Florida special elections will significantly overperform," Jeffries said.
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Click here to read NBC's article in full.