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.

WHAT TRUMP SAID ABOUT THE FLORIDA SPECIAL ELECTIONS 

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.

WHAT IT WOULD MEAN FOR THE HOUSE GOP MAJORITY IF REPUBLICANS LOST ONE OF TUESDAY’S ELECTIONS: ‘IT WOULD BE DIFFICULT’

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.

“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.

DEMOCRATS FAR FROM THRILLED ON POSSIBLE BIDEN POLITICAL REEMERGENCE

“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.”

DEMOCRATS SWEEP TWIN SPECIAL LEGISLATIVE ELECTIONS IN KEY BATTLEGROUND STATE

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

A woman in Florida was arrested after she allegedly pointed a pellet gun at two boys who were fishing in a pond located just outside her backyard.

An arrest affidavit indicated that Donna Elkins, 59, called 911 on Friday and reported the two boys who she claimed were fishing in her backyard, according to FOX 35 Orlando. Elkins told the 911 operator that she had “stopped [the two boys] and they were lying on the ground,” adding they were “petrified.”

Elkins allegedly forced the boys to the ground for around five minutes before her husband went outside to disarm her, the affidavit states. Deputies said the woman threatened to “blow their heads off” after the children were on the ground, and pointed a long black pellet gun at them.

“If someone goes in your backyard, you can blow their f–king heads off. I have a right to protect my property and my house,” Elkins said.

LAWYERS FOR ‘MORBIDLY OBESE’ FLORIDA DEATH ROW INMATE ARGUE HIS WEIGHT COULD CAUSE BOTCHED LETHAL INJECTION

Investigators with the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office determined that the boys were fishing 30 feet from Elkins’ property.

Brayden, a 15-year-old, said the woman threatened them several times.

“She said she was going to blow our brains out and that if we didn’t listen to her, she would shoot – that she was going to blow our heads off,” Brayden said.

HAWAIIAN DOCTOR’S WIFE DESCRIBES MOMENT SHE REALIZED HUSBAND WAS ALLEGEDLY TRYING TO KILL HER

Donna Elkins can be seen holding a long pellet gun. (Brevard County Sheriff’s Office)

Even though the weapon carried by Elkins was a pellet gun, the eighth grader said he thought Elkins was going to kill them.

“In my head, it was a real gun,” Brayden said. “That she was going to shoot us and kill us and the fact that she was saying she was going to blow our heads off, you can’t do that with a pellet gun. I really thought it was real.”

“What she did was wrong,” he added.

Elkins faces two charges of false imprisonment and two charges of aggravated assault. (Brevard County Sheriff’s Office)

Elkins was arrested and faces two charges of false imprisonment and two charges of aggravated assault.

According to the sheriff’s office, neither of the boys were injured.

EXCLUSIVE – Republican Rep. Byron Donalds has enjoyed a fundraising frenzy since announcing his run for Florida governor in late February, in the 2026 race to succeed term-limited GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis.

Donalds, who has represented Florida’s 19th Congressional District in the southwest part of the state for four years, raised roughly $12 million in the 35 days since he announced his candidacy, according to his political team.

The fundraising included $540,000 in hard dollars for his gubernatorial campaign, and around $11.5 million for Friends of Byron Donalds, an aligned super PAC. The contributions for the campaign and the super PAC came from around 4,300 donors.

The figures were shared first with Fox News on Tuesday.

WHAT BYRON DONALDS TOLD FOX NEWS AS HE KICKED OFF HIS BID FOR FLORIDA GOVERNOR

Donalds, a staunch supporter and ally of President Donald Trump, announced his candidacy during an appearance on Fox News’ “Hannity” late last month, days after landing the president’s endorsement.

“Byron Donalds has hit the ground running with President Trump’s endorsement and has amassed a $12 million war chest since announcing his bid for Governor just 35 days ago. We are grateful to the thousands of donors supporting Byron’s vision for Conservative leadership,” veteran Republican strategist Danielle Alvarez, who is helping Donalds, said in a statement.

FIRST ON FOX: LEADING CONSERVATIVE GROUP BACKS DONALDS IN FLORIDA

In a Fox News Digital interview on Friday, as he held his campaign kickoff in Bonita Springs, Donalds pledged that “we’re going to campaign hard and we’re going to take this to every part of Florida.”

And pointing to the support from Trump, whose immense grip over the GOP is stronger than ever, he emphasized “having his endorsement, it’s a great thing to have, I’m glad I have it.”

“And when he makes these choices, they tend to turn out well for his candidates,” Donalds noted. 

At his campaign kickoff rally, Rep. Byron Donalds takes photos with supporters after delivering an address, on March 28, 2025, in Bonita Springs, Florida. (Fox News – Paul Steinhauser)

Donalds is currently the only major Republican to date to jump into the race.

But Florida first lady Casey DeSantis has acknowledged she is considering a 2026 Republican gubernatorial run of her own, to succeed her husband in Tallahassee.

She stoked speculation in February when asked by reporters if she would run.

“To quote the late Yogi Berra,” DeSantis said as she reiterated a famous line from the late baseball legend. “If you see a fork in the road, take it.”

The governor then quipped to reporters that “you guys can read into that what you will.”

RON AND CASEY DESANTIS TEE OFF WITH TRUMP AS FLORIDA GOVERNOR’S RACE HEATS UP

When asked last month at the National Review Institute’s Ideas Summit in National Harbor, Maryland, if she might launch a campaign, Casey DeSantis said, “We’ll see.”

The governor has repeatedly touted his wife’s accomplishments as Florida first lady and framed her as a worthy successor. And sources confirmed in February to Fox News that the governor has been reaching out to donors on behalf of his wife.

Casey DeSantis, Florida’s first lady, during a campaign event for Gov. Ron DeSantis in Atlantic, Iowa, on Jan. 13, 2024. (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Asked about a possible face-off with Casey DeSantis, Donalds told Fox News Digital last week that “races take on a shape of their own, so we’ll see what actually happens.”

“My mission is going to be focused on our future and the things that are necessary for Florida to go and to thrive and be prosperous for everybody. So that’s going to be my mission. We’ll see how the race shapes up,” he added.

And Donalds said he aims to convey to voters that “I have a vision for their future and I think that when they hear it, they’re going to choose me.”