Florida
AP Decision Notes: What to expect in Florida's special congressional primaries
WASHINGTON (AP) — Control of the U.S. House isn’t on the line in Tuesday’s special congressional primaries in Florida, but Republicans are still eager to find replacements for former GOP Reps. Matt Gaetz and Michael Waltz to add some breathing room to their slender majority in the chamber.
President Donald Trump looms large in the race, in both Tuesday’s primary and the special general election on April 1. He’s endorsed candidates in both GOP primaries and easily carried both districts in the November election.
Trump has backed state Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis among a crowded 10-person field in Gaetz’s former 1st Congressional District. In Waltz’s 6th Congressional District, he endorsed state Rep. Randy Fine over two other candidates. Fine represents a Brevard County-based state Senate district located outside the Palm Coast-area seat he hopes to fill.
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Gun control activist Gay Valimont is unopposed for the Democratic nomination in the 1st District. She challenged Gaetz for the seat in November, receiving 34% of the vote. Democrats George Selmont and Josh Weil compete for the nomination in the 6th District. Selmont is an attorney and filmmaker who ran for a neighboring congressional seat in 2018. He received 32% of the vote against GOP Rep. John Rutherford. Weil is a public school educator in Osceola County.
The 1st Congressional District borders Alabama on the Gulf Coast in the westernmost part of the Florida panhandle. It is home to both Naval Air Station Pensacola and Eglin Air Force Base. The district is among the most reliably Republican areas of the state. The four counties that make up the 1st District have voted for Republican presidential candidates almost continually for the past 60 years.
On the other side of the state, the 6th Congressional District sits on the Atlantic Coast and includes Daytona Beach. Republican presidential candidates have carried all six counties in the district for the last four presidential elections. The Republican winning streak in some of the counties stretches back for decades before that. Lake County, for instance, hasn’t supported a Democrat for president since Franklin Roosevelt in 1944.
Trump’s support should carry considerable weight in both districts. His weakest performance in either district in last year’s general election was in Escambia County in the 1st District, where he received 59% of the vote.
In the November general election, Gaetz and Waltz won reelection with 66% and 67% of the vote, respectively. Gaetz resigned after Trump nominated him to be attorney general, but he later withdrew from consideration following ongoing scrutiny over a federal sex trafficking investigation and a House Ethics Committee investigation. Waltz resigned Monday to become White House national security adviser.
The Associated Press does not make projections and will declare a winner only when it’s determined there is no scenario that would allow the trailing candidates to close the gap. If a race has not been called, the AP will continue to cover any newsworthy developments, such as candidate concessions or declarations of victory. In doing so, the AP will make clear that it has not yet declared a winner and explain why.
Machine recounts in Florida are automatic if the vote margin is 0.5% of the total vote or less. If the machine recount results in a vote margin of 0.25% of the total vote or less, a manual recount of overvotes and undervotes is required. The AP may declare a winner in a race that is eligible for a recount if it can determine the lead is too large for a recount or legal challenge to change the outcome.
Here’s a look at what to expect on Tuesday:
Special primary day
The special primaries in Florida’s 1st and 6th Congressional Districts will be held Tuesday. Polls close at 7 p.m. local time, which is 7 p.m. ET in the 6th District and 8 p.m. ET in the 1st District.
What’s on the ballot?
The AP will provide vote results and declare winners in the Republican primary in the 1st Congressional District and the Democratic and Republican primaries in the 6th Congressional District. A Democratic primary will not be held in the 1st District as there is only one candidate.
Who gets to vote?
Florida does not allow voters registered with one political party to vote in another party’s primary. Democrats may not vote in the Republican primary or vice versa. Independent or unaffiliated voters may not participate in either primary.
What do turnout and advance vote look like?
As of October 2024, Florida’s 1st Congressional District had about 301,000 active registered Republicans and about 117,000 active registered Democrats. The 6th District had about 262,000 active registered Republicans and about 138,000 active registered Democrats.
Turnout in the August Republican congressional primaries was about 34% of registered Republicans in the 1st District and about 31% in the 6th District. Democrats did not have competitive primaries in those districts.
As of Thursday morning, more than 11,000 ballots had been cast in the 1st District Republican primary, nearly 15,000 in the 6th District Republican primary and nearly 9,000 in the 6th District Democratic primary.
How long does vote-counting usually take?
In the 2024 general election, the AP first reported results in the 1st Congressional District at 8:01 p.m. ET, or one minute after polls closed. The election night tabulation in the 1st District ended at 1:33 a.m. ET with about 99% of total votes counted. In the 6th Congressional District, the first batch of votes was reported at 7 p.m. ET, just as polls closed. The last vote update of the night was at 11:48 p.m. ET, with about 99% of the vote counted.
Are we there yet?
As of Tuesday, there will be 63 days until the special general elections in Florida’s 1st and 6th Congressional Districts.
Florida
Florida high school football team pulls off miraculous touchdown to help win state championship
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A Florida high school state football championship finished with a phenomenal ending for one team and absolute heartbreak for the other on Saturday night.
Lake Mary High School was down six points with seven seconds left in the Florida High School Athletic Association Class 7A title game against Vero Beach. Noah Grubbs dropped back to pass and rolled to his right. He gained momentum and fired the ball, which was tipped and caught short of the goal line.
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A Lake Mary quarterback looks to throw in the FHSAA Class 7A state championship, Dec. 13, 2025, at Pitbull Stadium in Miami. (Crystal Vander Weit/TCPALM/USA Today Network via Imagn Images)
As Vero Beach defenders tried to keep receiver Barrett Schultz out of the end zone, Schultz’s teammate Tavarius Brundidge Jr. came around and took the ball out of Schultz’s hands. Brundidge ran the ball into the end zone to complete the wild and chaotic play.
The touchdown tied the game, and Lake Mary would kick the extra point to win, 28-27.
INDIANA’S FERNANDO MENDOZA WINS 2025 HEISMAN TROPHY
A Lake Mary player in the FHSAA Class 7A state championship, Dec. 13, 2025, makes a catch at Pitbull Stadium in Miami. (Crystal Vander Weit/TCPALM/USA Today Network via Imagn Images)
“I was just hoping and praying like everyone else that he was going to come down with the football and Barrett did,” Lake Mary head coach Scott Perry said, via TC Palm. “… We were just going to keep fighting and fighting until the final whistle.”
Vero Beach tried to run out the clock the best they could. The team decided to take a safety with 12 seconds left, and gave the ball back to Lake Mary.
A Vero Beach player is stunned after the FHSAA Class 7A state championship, Dec. 13, 2025, at Pitbull Stadium in Miami. (Crystal Vander Weit/TCPALM/USA Today Network via Imagn Images)
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It was the first state championship for Lake Mary in its history.
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Gisele Bündchen and her boyfriend, Joaquim Valente, soaked up the sun during a jet skiing date in Florida.
The model and the MMA athlete appeared in good spirits while on the water near their home in Surfside on Saturday.
They both stayed close to each other and sported life vests.
Bündchen, 35, appeared to be wearing a white one-piece bathing suit underneath her vest.
She accessorized with sunglasses and styled her hair in a ponytail.
As for Valente, he sported black swim trunks.
The couple, who have been romantically linked since 2023, enjoyed some quality time together after welcoming a son together in February.
While Bündchen and Valente have shied away from revealing too much about their infant, they recently took him out on a boat ride in September.
At the time, the former Victoria’s Secret model was seen cradling her son while her beau took the wheel.
Valente then adorably held onto their 10-month-old, as Bündchen watched in awe.
The health guru also shared a rare glimpse of her son alongside her 16-year-old son, Benjamin, in October.
The teenager adorably held onto his little brother while playing the piano.
Bündchen shares Benjamin and her daughter Vivian, 13, with her ex-husband, Tom Brady.
The exes were wed from 2009 to 2022.
The former NFL star also shares an 18-year-old son, Jack, with his ex Bridget Moynahan.
The Florida High School Athletic Association (FHSAA) football state championships continued last night down in Miami at Pitbull Stadium as the Raines Vikings upset the Northwestern Bulls for the the Class 3A state championship, provind the most exciting game of the week thus far. Another rematch from last year’s finals pits the American Heritage Patriots versus the Jones Tigers for the Class 4A state championship this afternoon. We preview the sixth of seven FHSAA state championship games as teams begin being crowned as champions of their classifications.
How to Watch American Heritage vs. Jones in Florida 4A state championship game
Date: Saturday, Dec. 13
Time: 12:30 p.m. ET
Location: Pitbull Stadium in Miami, Fla.
TV Channel: NFHS Network
American Heritage Players to Watch
QB Leon Strawder: Strawder is making his second consecutive appearance in a state championship game, this time with a different team, however. The senior has thrown for 2,052 yards and 19 touchdowns.
WR Jamar Denson: Of the star-studded wide receiving corps for American Heritage, its Denson who has been Mr. Reliable thus far this season. Throughout the course of the season, Denson has hauled in 69 passes for 991 yards and 15 touchdowns.
WR Jeffar Jean-Noel: The Georgia Tech commit has been the second option behind Denson on offense, with Jean-Noel catching 57 passes for 795 yards and six touchdowns.
LB Dylan Bennett: Anchoring the front seven of the Patriots’ defense is the senior linebacker, who currently leads the team with 61 total tackles, 17 them going for a loss and five sacks.
Jones Players to Watch
QB Dereon Coleman: The Miami signee is as calm as they come in the pocket as the senior quarterback has thrown for 2,749 yards, 28 touchdowns and only three picks this Florida high school football season.
WR Larry Miles: Coleman’s favorite target to throw to is the Nebraska signee as the senior looks to end his high school career with a state crown. Miles has caught 88 passes for 1,111 and 10 touchdowns.
OL Xavier Payne: The 6-foot-7, 275-pound Colorado offensive tackle signee will have the job of making sure Coleman stands upright throughout the afternoon against American Heritage’s pass rush.
EDGE Frederick Ards: The 2027 four-star EDGE rusher for the Tigers has been superb, racking up 73 tackles, 13 for loss and 11 sacks.
Where to Watch the Florida Class 4A state championship on livestream:
You can watch the American Heritage Patriots take on the Jones Tigers starting at 12:30 p.m. ET on NFHS Network.
For Florida high school football fans looking to keep up with scores around the nation, staying updated on the action is now easier than ever with the Rivals High School Scoreboard. This comprehensive resource provides real-time updates and final scores from across the Sunshine State, ensuring you never miss a moment of the Friday night frenzy. From nail-biting finishes to dominant performances, the Rivals High School Scoreboard is your one-stop destination for tracking all the high school football excitement across the state of Florida.
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