Southeast
First election test for Trump's term surprisingly close in FL, GOP looks to increase razor-thin House majority
Voters in two congressional districts in Florida head to the polls on Tuesday, as Republicans aim to keep control of both solidly red seats and give themselves slightly more breathing room in the House, where they hold a razor-thin majority.
However, the Democratic Party candidates in the two special elections have vastly outraised the Republican nominees – thanks to an energized base eager to resist President Donald Trump and his sweeping and controversial agenda.
The races, in Florida’s 1st and 6th Congressional Districts, which Trump carried by 37 and 30 points in last year’s presidential election, are being viewed as early referendums on the opening couple of months of Trump’s second tour of duty in the White House.
While the GOP was expected to sweep both races, some public and private polling suggests the 6th District showdown is now a margin-of-error race.
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Additionally, Trump, pointing to the Democratic candidates’ massive fundraising advantage, voiced growing concerns by Republicans as he told reporters on Friday that “you never know what happens in a case like that.”
Jimmy Patronis, the Florida chief financial officer, is favored over Democrat Gay Valimont in a multi-candidate field in the race to fill the vacant seat in the 1st CD, which is located in the far northwestern corner of Florida in the Panhandle region.
However, Valimont topped Patronis in fundraising by roughly a five-to-one margin.
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Republican Matt Gaetz, who won re-election in the district in last November’s elections, resigned from office weeks later after Trump selected him to be his nominee for attorney general in his second administration. Gaetz later withdrew himself from Cabinet consideration amid controversy.
However, it is the race in the 6th CD, which is located on Florida’s Atlantic coast from Daytona Beach to just south of Saint Augustine and inland to the outskirts of Ocala, that is really raising concerns among some in the GOP.
The race is to succeed Republican Michael Waltz, who stepped down from the seat on Jan. 20 after Trump named him his national security adviser.
Republican state Sen. Randy Fine is facing off against teacher Josh Weil, a Democrat, in a multi-candidate field.
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Weil grabbed plenty of national attention in recent weeks by topping Fine in the campaign cash battle by roughly a 10-to-1 margin.
The cash discrepancy in the 6th CD race spurred GOP-aligned outside groups to make last-minute contributions in support of Fine, with conservative super PACs dishing out big bucks to launch ads spotlighting Trump’s support of Fine and to take aim at Weil.
Josh Weil, a schoolteacher and Democratic candidate for Florida’s 6th Congressional District, speaks at a town hall event in Ocala, Florida, on March 26, 2025. (Reuters/Octavio Jones)
“Liberal Josh Weil wants to roadblock the Trump agenda,” the announcer in a spot from the Conservative Fighter PAC charges.
America PAC – which is bankrolled by billionaire Elon Musk, Trump’s top donor last year – made infusions as well during the closing days ahead of the election.
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“I would have preferred if our candidate had raised money at a faster rate and gotten on TV quicker,” Rep. Richard Hudson of North Carolina, the chair of the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC), told reporters last week. However, Hudson added that Fine is “doing what he needs to do. He’s on TV now,” and he emphasized, “We’re going to win the seat. I’m not concerned at all.”
Neither the NRCC nor the Congressional Leadership Fund, the top super PAC backing House Republicans, put any resources into the race.
However, Trump headlined tele-town halls for both Fine and Patronis late last week, and he also took to social media on Saturday to praise both candidates, in efforts to turn out Republican voters.
President Donald Trump arrives on Air Force One at Palm Beach International Airport on Friday, March 28, 2025, in Florida. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
“Randy has been a tremendous Voice for MAGA,” Trump wrote about Fine. “In Congress, Randy will be an incredible fighter.”
While Trump was optimistic about sweeping both Florida elections – saying “they seem to be good” – concerns about holding the seat in Florida’s 6th CD may have contributed to the president’s pulling last week of his nomination for GOP Rep. Elise Stefanik to serve as United Nations ambassador.
Stefanik represents New York’s 21st Congressional District, a large, mostly rural district in the northernmost reaches of the state that includes most of the Adirondack Mountains and the Thousand Islands region. She cruised to re-election last November by 24 points.
“We don’t want to take any chances. We don’t want to experiment,” Trump said as he pointed to what would have been a special election later this year to fill Stefanik’s seat if she had resigned if confirmed as U.N. ambassador.
“She’s very popular. She’s going to win. And somebody else will probably win, too, because we did very well there. I did very well there. But the word ‘probably’ is no good,” the president added as he once again emphasized he did not “want to take any chances.”
House GOP Conference Chair Elise Stefanik and then-former President Donald Trump at a New York event. (Getty Images)
Trump was not the only Republican expressing some concerns about the race in Florida’s 6th District.
Former top Trump political adviser and conservative host Steve Bannon warned last week that Fine “isn’t winning.” Additionally, two-term Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis told reporters last week that the GOP would underperform in the special election, arguing that “it’s a reflection of the candidate running in that race.”
However, it is worth pointing out the contentious history between DeSantis and Fine, who was the first Florida Republican to flip his endorsement from DeSantis to Trump during the 2024 Republican presidential nomination battle.
On the eve of the election, a Florida Republican official told Fox News the party is not panicked about the race, but rather “concerned.” However, the official, who asked to remain anonymous to speak more freely, said a win is still likely by about 7-10 points.
The GOP currently holds a 218-213 majority in the House – with the two vacant seats in Florida and two where Democratic lawmakers died in March.
Republican Rep. Byron Donalds, in a Fox News Digital interview on Friday as he kicked off his 2026 campaign for Florida governor, predicted “it would be difficult” for the GOP House majority if the party lost one of Tuesday’s elections.
However, he added, “I’m not looking forward to that. I think we’re going to win both those seats on Tuesday. I think Republican voters in those districts are going to turn out because, at the end of the day, the choice is clear.”
House Majority Whip Rep. Tom Emmer told Fox News Digital that “Jimmy Patronis and Randy Fine are exactly who House Republicans need to join our team.”
Emmer, the number three Republican in the House, emphasized that “their votes and leadership will be key as we work to advance President Trump’s agenda in Congress and Make America Great Again.”
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While the races in the two Republican-dominated districts are far from ideal for the Democrats to try and flip, the elections are the first opportunity for voters and donors to try and make a difference in federal contests since Trump’s return to power in the White House.
Voters in two congressional districts in Florida head to the polls on Tuesday, as Republicans aim to keep control of both solidly red seats and give themselves slightly more breathing room in the House, where they hold a razor-thin majority. (Getty Images)
Democrats say the surge in fundraising for their candidates is a sign their party is motivated amid voters’ frustrations with the sweeping and controversial moves made by Trump in his opening weeks back in office.
They also point to last week’s state senate election in battleground Pennsylvania, where the Democrats flipped a seat from red to blue that Trump easily carried in November’s presidential election.
“The American people are not buying what the Republicans are selling,” House Minority Leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries told reporters.
Jeffries and other Democrats are not predicting victory, and the House Democrats’ campaign arm – the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee – has not invested resources in either race.
However, Jeffries, the top Democrat in the House, highlighted that “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.”
Fox News’ Mark Meredith contributed to this report
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Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., briefly sparred with “60 Minutes” host Lesley Stahl over what she claimed was “accusatory” behavior from the journalist.
Greene gave her first sit-down interview with Stahl since announcing her resignation from Congress last month. During the segment, Stahl and Greene spoke about the Georgia lawmaker’s apology for taking part in “toxic politics.”
“I would like to say humbly, I‘m sorry for taking part in the toxic politics,” Greene told CNN in November. “It’s very bad for our country, and it’s been something I’ve thought about a lot, especially since Charlie Kirk was assassinated, is that we, I’m only responsible for myself and my own words and actions, and I am committed, and I’ve been working on this a lot lately to put down the knives in politics.”
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Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., gave her first sit-down interview with “60 Minutes” since announcing her resignation. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
“But you contributed to that,” Stahl asked Greene Sunday. “You. You, you were out there pounding, insulting people.”
Greene pushed back, claiming that Stahl had contributed to toxic politics herself.
“You’re accusatory, just like you did just then,” Greene said.
“I know you’re accusing me, but I’m smiling,” Stahl responded.
“You’re accusing me,” Greene said. “But we don’t have to accuse one another.”
The two continued to go back and forth, with Greene repeatedly insisting that Stahl should also acknowledge her own contribution to toxic politics.
“I don’t insult people,” Stahl said.
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Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., previously apologized for her role in “toxic” politics. (Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters)
“You just, you do in the way you question,” Greene said. “And you are, you’re accusing me right now.”
Fox News Digital reached out to CBS News for comment.
Greene previously sat down with Stahl in April 2023, when the two had a fiery exchange over the congresswoman’s claim that Democrats are the “party of pedophiles.”
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“They are not pedophiles. Why would you say that?” Stahl exclaimed.
“Democrats support — even Joe Biden, the president himself — supports children being sexualized and having transgender surgeries. Sexualizing children is what pedophiles do to children,” Greene said.
“Wow,” Stahl reacted.
“60 Minutes” correspondent Lesley Stahl had a tense exchange with Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., over her claim that Democrats were the “party of pedophiles” during an April 2023 interview. (Screenshots/CBS News)
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Greene shocked the political landscape last month when she revealed she would leave Congress Jan. 5. Many believe her abrupt exit was the result of her soured relationship with President Donald Trump.
Fox News’ Joseph Wulfsohn contributed to this report.
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Southeast
FBI’s renewed push in DC pipe bomb case shows how fresh eyes can change a stalled investigation
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Federal agents searching the Virginia home of Brian Cole Jr., accused of planting pipe bombs in Washington on Jan. 5, 2021, carried out a step-by-step operation this week that indicated investigators have re-energized a case that had seen little movement for years.
Cole was arrested in Woodbridge, Virginia, last week after federal investigators identified him as the suspect accused of planting the pipe bombs on Jan. 5, 2021, near the Capitol complex, the Republican National Committee (RNC) and the Democratic National Committee (DNC). His arrest marked the first major break in a case that had been largely dormant for years.
Retired FBI Special Agent Jason Pack, who previously helped lead Evidence Response Teams, told Fox News Digital the search followed the standard sequence used in explosive investigations, beginning with hazard clearing before evidence work. He said the careful pace shows investigators treating the case as if it had just happened.
The operation began with the standard safety sweep used in federal explosives investigations.
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Brian J. Cole was arrested by the FBI for alleged involvement in the D.C. pipe bomb incident. (Department of Justice)
“Federal agents are following a deliberate and familiar sequence as the search of the Woodbridge residence continues,” Pack said. “The presence of explosive ordnance disposal technicians, bomb techs and specialized K-9 teams indicates that the first priority is safety.”
He explained that investigators must first clear the property of possible explosive hazards to protect personnel and preserve the scene before they can begin collecting evidence.
One of the clearest indications of the work underway came from the metal paint cans agents carried out of the home.
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The FBI is carrying out “court enforced activity” at a home in Woodbridge, Va., after authorities arrested a suspect who allegedly planted pipe bombs blocks from the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 5, 2021, sources told Fox News on Dec. 4, 2025. (WTTG)
Pack said metal paint cans are a preferred method for collecting and transporting suspected explosive material because they limit contamination and protect volatile samples. The cans also allow forensic laboratories to analyze residues, components and chemical signatures that might connect a device to a specific individual or technique.
Once the scene is declared safe, evidence teams can move inside the home.
FBI Evidence Response Team members, guided by a federal search warrant and its attachments, typically handle the next phase of the search and use those documents to determine what they are authorized to seize.
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The FBI swarmed the home following the suspect’s arrest. (WTTG)
Those categories include explosive components or precursor chemicals; tools or materials used to construct destructive devices; electronic devices such as phones, hard drives and laptops; records, notes or digital communications that could show planning, motive or knowledge; and items that confirm identity, occupancy or control of the residence.
In this investigation, agents are looking for evidence that establishes intent, capability and any links to the explosive devices planted on Jan. 5, 2021.
Once the evidence is collected, it moves into the long analytical phase of the investigation.
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Sketch of Brian Cole Jr.’s first federal court appearance in Washington, D.C. Friday, December 5, 2025. Cole is the lead suspect in the D.C. pipe incident. (Dana Verkouteren)
Any electronics seized will undergo digital forensics to recover communications, searches or location data that may reveal planning or coordination. Laboratories will also examine residues or components to determine whether they match the devices used at the Capitol complex, the RNC or the DNC.
Pack said the search in Woodbridge shows the FBI is treating the investigation as if it had just begun, which he said can “change the entire trajectory” of the case.
“I have been the fresh set of eyes on cold cases, and I worked them as if the crime happened that morning,” he said. “The initial investigators often do excellent work. A new perspective simply asks different questions and sometimes spots the detail that finally brings the guilty to justice.”
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The suspect is seen walking outside the Democratic National Committee headquarters moments before placing one of two pipe bombs discovered near party offices in Washington, D.C. (FBI)
Pack said the U.S. Attorney’s Office is responsible for obtaining the warrants and court orders that move an investigation from suspicion to proof.
“When the immediate danger has passed, older cases often end up folded into the stack of files handled by overworked Assistant United States Attorneys who are already juggling emergencies of their own,” he said. “That can slow down warrants and subpoenas, not because anyone is dragging their feet, but because they are drowning in urgent matters.”
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The same pressures hit FBI agents, Pack said, as new threats emerge each day and older cases get pushed back while “investigators run to the sound of guns.”
“There are only 12,000 FBI agents in the world, and that small group is responsible for handling every threat that comes our way,” Pack said. “When leadership pours fresh resources back into a case, the whole machine turns forward again. Sunlight finds what shadows hide, and a second look often makes all the difference.”
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Cole had his first court appearance Friday after being arrested the day before and charged with transporting an explosive device in interstate commerce and with maliciously attempting to destroy property using explosive materials.
He has been speaking with investigators and reportedly admitted to planting the devices and expressing doubts about the outcome of the 2020 presidential election, a source close to the investigation told Fox News.
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Two in three Charlotte, North Carolina, residents say they feel less safe today than they did a year ago, according to a recent survey, as the city reels from two train stabbings.
More than 930 people responded to a survey that the Queen City recently completed before hiring its new police chief, Stella Patterson. Residents overwhelmingly said they want a proactive police force, not a reactive one, with 66% saying they feel less safe.
The results come as Charlotte contends with another stabbing on its light rail system, months after the stabbing of Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska.
On Friday, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department (CMPD) officers responded to a call regarding assault with a deadly weapon. When they arrived, they found the victim, identified as Kenyon Kareem-Shemar Dobie, with a stab wound, according to warrants.
Oscar Solorzano, 33, was arrested in connection to a stabbing on a Charlotte, North Carolina light rail. (Mecklenburg County Jail)
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Oscar Gerardo Solorzano-Garcia, 33, of Honduras, was arrested after the stabbing and charged with attempted first-degree murder, assault with a deadly weapon with serious injury, breaking/entering a motor vehicle, carrying a concealed weapon and intoxicated/disruptive behavior, according to multiple Department of Homeland Security (DHS) sources and arrest warrants obtained by Fox News Digital.
On Monday morning, Solorzano appeared in court, where he was denied bond. The 33-year-old appeared via Zoom in an orange jumpsuit where he was charged. Authorities revealed that Solorzano, prior to the Dec. 5 attack, was banned by Charlotte Area Transit System (CATS).
CMPD noted Dobie was in critical but stable condition when he was taken to a hospital.
The victim told WRAL News that he saw Solorzano yelling at an older woman before Solorzano handed his bike to another passenger and said: “I’m about to show you who I really am.”
“I wasn’t trying to be a macho man,” Dobie said in a TikTok post from his hospital room. “But what I won’t allow is you to attack random people for no reason, especially the elderly.”
Dobie said he jumped up and told Solorzano to leave everyone alone. He said Solarzano then grabbed his hands and stabbed him as he tried to grab him back.
Police in North Carolina have charged a 33-year-old man from Honduras with critically injuring another person in a stabbing on a Charlotte commuter train, just a few months after a Ukrainian refugee was murdered. (WJZY)
According to court documents, reviewed by Fox News Digital, Solorzano broke into a railroad car “with the intent to commit a felony,” while carrying a large fixed-blade knife.
While intoxicated, he challenged Dobie to a fight, cursing and shouting at others using “unintelligible and slurred words,” according to court documents.
He was booted from the country by the Trump administration in March 2018 on a deportation order and reentered illegally during the Biden administration at the Texas border in March 2021, DHS sources said.
WATCH: Migrant who was deported twice accused of Charlotte light rail stabbing
CHARLOTTE MAN CHARGED WITH IRYNA ZARUTSKA’S KILLING COULD FACE DEATH PENALTY
Solorzano was deported a second time by the Biden administration and reentered illegally as a got-away at an unknown time and location.
Solorzano has a prior conviction for robbery in the U.S. and prior arrests for aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, resisting arrest and false ID, DHS sources said.
Court records indicate he had known aliases, including Solorzano-Garcia, Oscar Herardo and Kevin Garcia.
Press secretary Karoline Leavitt speaks alongside a photo of Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska, who was allegedly killed by Decarlos Brown Jr., on a light rail train in Charlotte, North Carolina, at the White House, Sept. 9, 2025. (Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images)
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The stabbing attack comes months after Zarutska, 23, was fatally stabbed on a LYNX Blue Line light rail while on her way home from work from a local pizzeria shop.
Decarlos Brown Jr., 34, who is accused of killing Zarutska, was charged with violence against a railroad carrier and mass transportation system resulting in death, a capital offense under federal law.
Brown had a history of violent crime, including assaults and robberies, and had also been diagnosed with schizophrenia. Yet he was still free and walking the streets.
Fox News Digital has reached out to the city of Charlotte and the CMPD for comment.
Fox News Digital’s Alexander Koch and Fox News’ Bill Melugin and Chelsea Torres contributed to this report.
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