Jeff Peacock (Florida)
Jeff Peacock (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.
2025 battleground election
Ballotpedia identified the January 28 Republican primary as a battleground race. The summary below is from our coverage of this election, found here.
Jimmy Patronis (R) won the special Republican primary in Florida's 1st Congressional District on January 28, 2025. Nine other candidates also ran. The general election was on April 1, 2025. Two candidates — Patronis and Joel Rudman (R) — led in media attention and endorsements. Aaron Dimmock (R), who ran in the 2024 Republican primary also ran in the special election.
The previous incumbent, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R), resigned from Congress after President Donald Trump (R) nominated him for attorney general.[1] Gaetz later withdrew from consideration for the attorney general nomination.[2][3]
ABC News' Brittany Shepherd wrote, "It appears [Gaetz'] seat will be vacant for months -- presenting a challenge for House Republicans who already maintain a slim majority in the incoming Congress."[4]
Then-Gov. Rick Scott (R) appointed Patronis chief financial officer in 2017.[5] Patronis served in the Florida House from 2006 to 2014 and on the Florida Public Service Commission.
Patronis earned an associate degree in restaurant management from Gulf Coast Community College and a bachelor's degree in political science from Florida State University.[6] After he graduated, Patronis was appointed to the Florida Elections Commission.[6] In a campaign ad, Patronis said, "When President Trump asked me to run for Congress, to go to Washington and fight for him, my answer was 'Yes, sir.'"[7] Five candidates in the race dropped out and endorsed Patronis.[8]
Rudman represented the 3rd District in the Florida House from 2022 through 2024. His resignation from the state House to run in the special election was effective on January 1, 2025.[9]
Rudman was a doctor. He earned his bachelor's degree from the University of Southern Mississippi in 1993 and his medical degree from the University of Mississippi in 1996.[10] His slogan in his state House campaign was, "I didn't go into politics. Politics went into medicine."[9] Rudman said, "I didn't get a call from D.C. to run for this race. I got a call from the citizens who are sitting in this room to run for this race, and that's why I'm here."[11]
At a candidate forum, Patronis said, "There’s nobody that will work harder than Jimmy because for the folks of Congressional District 1, I’ve got a heck of a work record of accomplishments, and I intend to take what I’ve been doing for the last 10 years for the entire state of Florida and make a difference in CD1."[12] Rudman said, "You don’t replace a firebrand with a wet rag. You replace a fighter with a fighter, and that’s me. I’m a fighter.”[12]
Dimmock, who ran in the 2024 Republican primary, said he believed voters were "ready for someone to come in, to move away from the chaos that was started by Matt in the Republican Party, in Congress. And they're ready for an alternative option for change. Someone who's going to represent them duly up on the Hill."[13] Click here to read more about the August 20, 2024, Republican primary.
Florida Politics' Jacob Ogles wrote, "Dimmock walks into the race after spending almost $311,000 promoting himself to voters in CD 1, an advantage no other Republican running can claim."[14]
Seven other Republican candidates also ran: Kevin Gaffney, Jeff Macey, Greg Merk, John Mills, Jeff Peacock, Michael Thompson, and Gene Valentino.
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. | ||||
| 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
- 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)
Polls
- See also: Ballotpedia's approach to covering polls
We provide results for polls that are included in polling aggregation from FiveThirtyEight and RealClearPolitics, when available. No polls were available for this election. To notify us of polls published in this election, please email us.
Election campaign finance
| Name | Party | Receipts* | Disbursements** | Cash on hand | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aaron Dimmock | Republican Party | $50,636 | $132,141 | $1,376 | As of September 30, 2025 |
| Kevin Gaffney | Republican Party | $13,575 | $14,190 | $324 | As of March 31, 2025 |
| Jeff Macey | Republican Party | $0 | $0 | $0 | Data not available*** |
| Greg Merk | Republican Party | $35,199 | $34,949 | $-4,350 | As of January 28, 2025 |
| John Mills | Republican Party | $11,061 | $12,757 | $362 | As of September 30, 2025 |
| Jimmy Patronis | Republican Party | $2,813,720 | $2,413,464 | $400,256 | As of September 30, 2025 |
| Jeff Peacock | Republican Party | $29,099 | $37,665 | $0 | As of March 31, 2025 |
| Joel Rudman | Republican Party | $125,820 | $125,820 | $0 | As of February 24, 2025 |
| Michael Dylan Thompson | Republican Party | $86,976 | $111,976 | $-25,000 | As of June 30, 2025 |
| Gene Valentino | Republican Party | $478,960 | $478,960 | $0 | As of March 4, 2025 |
|
Source: Federal Elections Commission, "Campaign finance data," 2025. This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
* According to the FEC, "Receipts are anything of value (money, goods, services or property) received by a political committee." |
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Satellite spending
- See also: Satellite spending
Satellite spending describes political spending not controlled by candidates or their campaigns; that is, any political expenditures made by groups or individuals that are not directly affiliated with a candidate. This includes spending by political party committees, super PACs, trade associations, and 501(c)(4) nonprofit groups.[15][16][17]
If available, this section includes links to online resources tracking satellite spending in this election. To notify us of a resource to add, email us.
Endorsements
Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Peacock in this election.
Campaign themes
2025
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Jeff Peacock did not complete Ballotpedia's 2025 Candidate Connection survey.
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
- ↑ New York Times, "Matt Gaetz Resigns From Congress After Trump Picks Him for Attorney General," November 13, 2024
- ↑ CNN, "Gaetz withdraws from attorney general consideration after Trump told him he didn’t have the votes in the Senate," November 21, 2024
- ↑ New York Times, "Trump Picks Pam Bondi, Florida’s Former Top Prosecutor, for Attorney General After Gaetz Withdraws," November 21, 2024
- ↑ ABC News, "Process to replace Matt Gaetz could cut into House GOP's narrow majority," November 22, 2024
- ↑ Florida Times-Union, "Scott points to 'breadth of knowledge' in Patronis pick as CFO," June 26, 2017
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Jimmy Patronis 2025 campaign website, "Meet Jimmy," accessed December 18, 2024
- ↑ YouTube, "Patronis: Yes sir," December 12, 2024
- ↑ South Santa Rose News, "Candidates Drop Out of Congressional Race and Endorse Jimmy Patronis," December 6, 2024
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Tallahassee Democrat, "Joel Rudman resigns from Florida House to run for Matt Gaetz's former congressional seat," November 26, 2024
- ↑ Florida House of Representatives, "Dr. Joel Rudman," accessed December 18, 2024
- ↑ Pensacola News Journal, "Republican candidates hit front-runner Jimmy Patronis in election to replace Gaetz," December 9, 2024
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 WKRG, "GOP candidates compete to replace Matt Gaetz in District 1 Forum," January 6, 2025
- ↑ Fox News, "Navy veteran challenging Matt Gaetz's House seat," June 24, 2024]
- ↑ Florida Politics, "Aaron Dimmock, months after challenging Matt Gaetz in Primary, jumps into Special Election to replace him," December 6, 2024
- ↑ OpenSecrets.org, "Outside Spending," accessed December 12, 2021
- ↑ OpenSecrets.org, "Total Outside Spending by Election Cycle, All Groups," accessed December 12, 2021
- ↑ National Review.com, "Why the Media Hate Super PACs," December 12, 2021
