Kevin Gaffney (Florida)
Kevin Gaffney (Republican Party) ran in a special election to the U.S. House to represent Florida's 1st Congressional District. He lost in the special Republican primary on January 28, 2025.
Gaffney completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
Kevin Gaffney was born in St. Charles, Illinois. He graduated from Naples High School. He earned a bachelor's degree from Stetson University in 1981 and a graduate degree from the Illinois Institute of Technology in 1996. His career experience includes working as a civil servant, adjunct professor, and teacher. He has been affiliated with the Destiny Worship Center, Samaritan's Purse, St. Charles History Museum, and Titanic History Museum.[1]
Elections
2025
See also: Florida's 1st Congressional District special election, 2025
General election
Special general election for U.S. House Florida District 1
The following candidates ran in the special general election for U.S. House Florida District 1 on April 1, 2025.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Jimmy Patronis (R) | 56.9 | 97,370 |
 | Gay Valimont (D) | 42.3 | 72,375 | |
 | Stephen E. Broden (No Party Affiliation) | 0.8 | 1,384 | |
 | Stanley Gray (No Party Affiliation) (Write-in) | 0.1 | 88 | |
 | Stan McDaniels (No Party Affiliation) (Write-in)  | 0.0 | 31 | |
 | Richard Dembinsky (No Party Affiliation) (Write-in) | 0.0 | 0 | |
| Total votes: 171,248 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Tevin Channing Minus (No Party Affiliation)
- Alan Aversa (No Party Affiliation)
- Jonathan Green (No Party Affiliation)
- Tyler Davis (No Party Affiliation)
Democratic primary election
The Democratic primary election was canceled. Gay Valimont advanced from the special Democratic primary for U.S. House Florida District 1.
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- C. Marcel Davis (D)
Republican primary election
Special Republican primary for U.S. House Florida District 1
The following candidates ran in the special Republican primary for U.S. House Florida District 1 on January 28, 2025.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Jimmy Patronis | 65.7 | 33,742 |
 | Joel Rudman | 9.9 | 5,099 | |
 | Aaron Dimmock | 6.7 | 3,423 | |
 | Gene Valentino | 6.0 | 3,093 | |
 | Michael Dylan Thompson | 5.0 | 2,548 | |
 | Greg Merk | 2.5 | 1,287 | |
| Jeff Peacock | 1.4 | 743 | ||
 | Kevin Gaffney | 1.2 | 634 | |
 | John Mills | 1.1 | 574 | |
| Jeff Macey | 0.4 | 187 | ||
| Total votes: 51,330 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Christopher Slater (R)
- Cindy Meadows (R)
- Jeff Witt (R)
- Uloma Ekpete Kama (R)
- Eric Hafner (R)
- Angela Marie Walls-Windhauser (R)
- Scott Trotter (R)
Endorsements
Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Gaffney in this election.
Campaign themes
2025
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Kevin Gaffney completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Gaffney's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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Kevin also has several years of teaching experience as an adjunct professor at Judson University, Elgin, Illinois, and at Northwest Florida State College, where he taught courses in criminology, public sector budgeting, and American government respectively. He currently teaches American government, economics, and history at Rocky Bayou Christian School in Niceville, Florida. Kevin graduated from Stetson University with a B.A. in political science. He graduated from the Illinois Institute of Technology with a Master’s in public administration. Kevin and his wife Jane have lived in Freeport, Florida, Hammock Bay, for nearly six years. They have five adult children and four grandchildren. Kevin is a Christian and he and his wife attend Destiny Worship Center in Freeport, Florida.
Kevin has been active and supportive of the Republican Party both in Illinois and Florida. He previously served in the GOP, worked on campaigns, and earlier ran for office. He describes himself as a Reagan Republican and fiscal and social conservative.- Kevin is running because he feels strongly about the direction of this country and the 1st District of Florida. If elected to Congress, he states he would support and propose: Better healthcare accessibility and care for Veterans. New VA facilities and free market options for medical care for all Veterans.
- No taxes on Social Security, pensions, or tips. He will work with the State of Florida in reducing or eliminating property taxes. Lower taxes for all Americans. He will propose a Constitutional Amendment to balance the budget. He fully supports DOGE. He will propose a Constitutional Amendment for term limits for both members of the House and Senate. He states he would limit himself to a maximum of three terms or six years in office.
- He would drastically limit foreign aid and any U.S. role in foreign entanglements not in our national interest. He favors the support of alternatives to government education, including charter and private schools. He supports the reduction of federal government spending at all levels. He supports a total realignment of the Department of Justice, F.B.I., C.I.A., and Secret Service with accountability at all levels of these agencies. He would support the elimination of the FISA Courts. He strongly opposes illegal immigration. He supports a secure northern and southern border. He would support immigration reform. He is ardently pro-life and supports the biblical view that life begins at conception. Fully supports the 2nd Amendment.
2. Enforce the boarders and current immigration laws.
3. No taxes on Social Security, pensions, or tips. He will work with the State of Florida in reducing or eliminating property taxes. Lower taxes for all Americans.
4. He would drastically limit foreign aid and any U.S. role in foreign entanglements not in our national interest.
5. He favors the support of alternatives to government education, including charter and private schools.
2. Film - Smith Goes to Washington - as one man or women with a strong character and ideals can make a difference in Washington D.C,
2) The ability to lead with courage - whether it is in line with the current cultural trends. I would hold fast to the values that matter - faith, hope, and love.
2) To have character and ability to carry out the duties of the office under the laws of the U.S. Constitution.
3) To never dishonor the office I am seeking.
1. U.S. House members no more than 3 terms or 6 years.
2) Reduce the ability to have agencies through the Federal Registrar make regulations or laws.
To keep both parties, along with various agencies accountable to the tax payer.
2. Judiciary
2) I believe the budget process needs to be adhered to with single bill legislation relating to appropriation bills and no continuing resolutions with numerous pages in proposed legislation to be read or not within a very short period of time.
3) Limit foreign aid to only our national interests.
4) Criminal penalties should be imposed against those individuals and agencies misallocating funds, such as the recent IRS audit revealing billions misallocated.
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
Campaign finance summary
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
See also
2025 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on December 19, 2024
