While all eyes in Florida politics are on a special Republican primary election for an open House seat in the Panhandle on Tuesday, another prominent Republican from the area took a big step toward advancing his own political ambitions Monday.
The only question: Is the Twitter-verse ready now that Representative Matt Gaetz has made official his bid for the State Senate seat currently held by his father?
Today, Gaetz filed his paperwork to run in 2016, after having made no attempt to keep his plans to run against House colleague Jimmy Patronis for the Senate seat a secret.
Gaetz has launched attack after attack on Patronis over social media on a variety of fronts. Gaetz, one of the most prolific members of the Florida Legislature in the use of social media, has been attacking Patronis in recent weeks for supporting the use of state dollars for the Miami Dolphins’ stadium.
“Will the Miami Dolphins get a taxpayer funded stadium deal?” Gaetz asked on Twitter earlier this month. “Northwest Florida’s JimmyPatronis sure facilitated a floor vote.” Gaetz then added a hashtag to define his opponent — “#jimmytheliberal.”
The stakes are high in the Republican primary. The seat that Don Gaetz currently occupies ranks as one of the most Republican Senate districts in Florida. Rick Scott took 55 percent of this Panhandle district in 2010 while Democrat Alex Sink took less than 40 percent. Whoever wins the Republican primary should go on to win the Senate seat. In 2012, Democrats did not field a candidate, leaving Richard Harrison, who was running with no party affiliation, a clear shot at Don Gaetz. The Republican won the race with 74.4 percent of the vote.
Material from Jeff Henderson of Sunshine State News was used in this post.
