Florida's 1st Congressional District election, 2026

← 2024
Florida's 1st Congressional District
General election
Election details
Filing deadline: April 24, 2026
Primary: August 18, 2026 General: November 3, 2026
How to vote
Poll times: 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Voting in Florida
Race ratings
Cook Political Report: Solid Republican DDHQ and The Hill: Pending Inside Elections: Solid Republican Sabato's Crystal Ball: Safe Republican
Ballotpedia analysis
U.S. Senate battlegrounds U.S. House battlegrounds Federal and state primary competitiveness Ballotpedia's Election Analysis Hub, 2026
See also
Florida's 1st Congressional District 1st • 2nd • 3rd • 4th • 5th • 6th • 7th • 8th • 9th • 10th • 11th • 12th • 13th • 14th • 15th • 16th • 17th • 18th • 19th • 20th • 21st • 22nd • 23rd • 24th • 25th • 26th • 27th • 28th Florida elections, 2026 U.S. Congress elections, 2026 U.S. Senate elections, 2026 U.S. House elections, 2026 Alabama U.S. House racesAlaska U.S. House raceArizona U.S. House racesArkansas U.S. House racesCalifornia U.S. House racesColorado U.S. House racesConnecticut U.S. House racesDelaware U.S. House raceFlorida U.S. House racesGeorgia U.S. House racesHawaii U.S. House racesIdaho U.S. House racesIllinois U.S. House racesIndiana U.S. House racesIowa U.S. House racesKansas U.S. House racesKentucky U.S. House racesLouisiana U.S. House racesMaine U.S. House racesMaryland U.S. House racesMassachusetts U.S. House racesMichigan U.S. House racesMinnesota U.S. House racesMississippi U.S. House racesMissouri U.S. House racesMontana U.S. House racesNebraska U.S. House racesNevada U.S. House racesNew Hampshire U.S. House racesNew Jersey U.S. House racesNew Mexico U.S. House racesNew York U.S. House racesNorth Carolina U.S. House racesNorth Dakota U.S. House raceOhio U.S. House racesOklahoma U.S. House racesOregon U.S. House racesPennsylvania U.S. House racesRhode Island U.S. House racesSouth Carolina U.S. House racesSouth Dakota U.S. House raceTennessee U.S. House racesTexas U.S. House racesUtah U.S. House racesVermont U.S. House raceVirginia U.S. House racesWashington U.S. House racesWest Virginia U.S. House racesWisconsin U.S. House racesWyoming U.S. House raceSubmit

All U.S. House districts, including the 1st Congressional District of Florida, are holding elections in 2026. The general election is November 3, 2026. To learn more about other elections on the ballot, click here.

Candidates and election results

Note: The following list includes official candidates only. Ballotpedia defines official candidates as people who:

• Register with a federal or state campaign finance agency before the candidate filing deadline
• Appear on candidate lists released by government election agencies

Note: At this time, Ballotpedia is combining all declared candidates for this election into one list under a general election heading. As primary election dates are published, this information will be updated to separate general election candidates from primary candidates as appropriate.

General election

The general election will occur on November 3, 2026.

General election for U.S. House Florida District 1

The following candidates are running in the general election for U.S. House Florida District 1 on November 3, 2026.

		Candidate
		Jimmy Patronis (R)
		Gay Valimont (D)
		Aaron Dimmock (R)
	Submit photo	Charles Keebaugh (R)
		John Mills (R)
	Submit photo	Bernadette Pittman (R)
	Submit photo	Tayla Plumer (R)
		Gene Valentino (R)

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined.
= 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.

Candidate profiles

There are currently no candidate profiles created for this race. Candidate profiles will appear here as they are created. Encourage the candidates in this race to complete Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey so that their profile will appear here. You can ask candidates in this race to fill out the survey by clicking their names below:

• Gay Valimont
• Aaron Dimmock
• Charles Keebaugh
• Jimmy Patronis

Voting information

See also: Voting in Florida

Election information in Florida: Nov. 3, 2026, election.

What is the voter registration deadline?

• In-person: Oct. 5, 2026
• By mail: Postmarked by Oct. 5, 2026
• Online: Oct. 5, 2026

Is absentee/mail-in voting available to all voters?

N/A

What is the absentee/mail-in ballot request deadline?

• In-person: Oct. 22, 2026
• By mail: Received by Oct. 22, 2026
• Online: Oct. 22, 2026

What is the absentee/mail-in ballot return deadline?

• In-person: Nov. 3, 2026
• By mail: Received by Nov. 3, 2026

Is early voting available to all voters?

Yes

What are the early voting start and end dates?

Oct. 24, 2026 to Oct. 31, 2026

Are all voters required to present ID at the polls? If so, is a photo or non-photo ID required?

N/A

When are polls open on Election Day?

7:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m. (ET/CT)

Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey responses

Ballotpedia asks all federal, state, and local candidates to complete a survey and share what motivates them on political and personal levels. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

No candidate in this race has completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey. Ballotpedia is seeking 100 percent participation so voters can learn more about all the candidates on their ballots.

You can ask candidates in this race to fill out the survey by clicking their names below:

• Aaron Dimmock
• Charles Keebaugh
• Gay Valimont
• Jimmy Patronis

Campaign finance

Name	Party	Receipts*	Disbursements**	Cash on hand	Date
Jimmy Patronis	Republican Party	$0	$0	$0	Data not available***
Gay Valimont	Democratic Party	$0	$0	$0	Data not available***
Cedric Alexander	Republican Party	$0	$0	$0	Data not available***
Aaron Dimmock	Republican Party	$0	$0	$0	Data not available***
Charles Keebaugh	Republican Party	$0	$0	$0	As of March 5, 2025
John Mills	Republican Party	$0	$0	$0	Data not available***
Bernadette Pittman	Republican Party	$0	$0	$0	Data not available***
Tayla Plumer	Republican Party	$0	$0	$0	Data not available***
Gene Valentino	Republican Party	$0	$0	$0	Data not available***
Source: Federal Elections Commission, "Campaign finance data," . 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." ** According to the FEC, a disbursement "is a purchase, payment, distribution, loan, advance, deposit or gift of money or anything of value to influence a federal election," plus other kinds of payments not made to influence a federal election. *** Candidate either did not report any receipts or disbursements to the FEC, or Ballotpedia did not find an FEC candidate ID.

General election race ratings

See also: Race rating definitions and methods

Ballotpedia provides race ratings from four outlets: The Cook Political Report, Inside Elections, Sabato's Crystal Ball, and DDHQ/The Hill. Each race rating indicates if one party is perceived to have an advantage in the race and, if so, the degree of advantage:

• Safe and Solid ratings indicate that one party has a clear edge and the race is not competitive.
• Likely ratings indicate that one party has a clear edge, but an upset is possible.
• Lean ratings indicate that one party has a small edge, but the race is competitive.
• Toss-up ratings indicate that neither party has an advantage.

Race ratings are informed by a number of factors, including polling, candidate quality, and election result history in the race's district or state.

Race ratings: Florida's 1st Congressional District election, 2026
Race tracker	Race ratings
	12/23/2025	12/16/2025	12/9/2025	12/2/2025
The Cook Political Report with Amy Walter	Solid Republican	Solid Republican	Solid Republican	Solid Republican
Decision Desk HQ and The Hill	Pending	Pending	Pending	Pending
Inside Elections with Nathan L. Gonzales	Solid Republican	Solid Republican	Solid Republican	Solid Republican
Larry J. Sabato's Crystal Ball	Safe Republican	Safe Republican	Safe Republican	Safe Republican
Note: Ballotpedia reviews external race ratings every week throughout the election season and posts weekly updates even if the media outlets have not revised their ratings during that week.

Ballot access

The table below details filing requirements for U.S. House candidates in Florida in the 2026 election cycle. For additional information on candidate ballot access requirements in Florida, click here.

Filing requirements for U.S. House candidates, 2026
State	Office	Party	Signatures required	Filing fee	Filing deadline	Source
Florida	U.S. House	Ballot-qualified party	1% of the registered voters in the geographical area of candidacy	$10,440	4/24/2026	Source
Florida	U.S. House	Unaffiliated	1% of the registered voters in the geographical area of candidacy	$6,960	4/24/2026	Source

District history

The section below details election results for this office in elections dating back to 2020.

• 2024
• 2022
• 2020

General election

General election for U.S. House Florida District 1

Incumbent Matt Gaetz (R) defeated Gay Valimont (D) in the general election for U.S. House Florida District 1 on November 5, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Matt Gaetz (R)	66.0	274,108
		Gay Valimont (D)	34.0	140,980

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 415,088
= 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.

Democratic primary

The Democratic primary scheduled for August 20, 2024, was canceled. Gay Valimont (D) advanced from the Democratic primary for U.S. House Florida District 1 without appearing on the ballot.

Republican primary

Republican primary for U.S. House Florida District 1

Incumbent Matt Gaetz (R) defeated Aaron Dimmock (R) in the Republican primary for U.S. House Florida District 1 on August 20, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Matt Gaetz	72.6	70,824
		Aaron Dimmock	27.4	26,788

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 97,612
= 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

• Todd Jennings (R)
• William McPhillips (R)
• John Mills (R)
• Christine Santiago (R)

General election

General election for U.S. House Florida District 1

Incumbent Matt Gaetz (R) defeated Rebekah Jones (D) in the general election for U.S. House Florida District 1 on November 8, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Matt Gaetz (R)	67.9	197,349
		Rebekah Jones (D)	32.1	93,467

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 290,816
= 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.

Democratic primary

Democratic primary for U.S. House Florida District 1

Rebekah Jones (D) defeated Margaret Schiller (D) in the Democratic primary for U.S. House Florida District 1 on August 23, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Rebekah Jones	62.6	21,875
		Margaret Schiller	37.4	13,091

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 34,966
= 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.

Republican primary

Republican primary for U.S. House Florida District 1

Incumbent Matt Gaetz (R) defeated Mark Lombardo (R) and Greg Merk (R) in the Republican primary for U.S. House Florida District 1 on August 23, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Matt Gaetz	69.7	73,374
		Mark Lombardo	24.4	25,720
		Greg Merk	5.9	6,170

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 105,264
= 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

• Bryan Jones (R)
• Jeremy Kelly (R)
• William McPhillips (R)

General election

General election for U.S. House Florida District 1

Incumbent Matt Gaetz (R) defeated Phil Ehr (D) and Albert Oram (No Party Affiliation) in the general election for U.S. House Florida District 1 on November 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Matt Gaetz (R)	64.6	283,352
		Phil Ehr (D)	34.0	149,172
	Submit photo	Albert Oram (No Party Affiliation)	1.4	6,038

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 438,562
= 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.

Democratic primary

The Democratic primary scheduled for August 18, 2020, was canceled. Phil Ehr (D) advanced from the Democratic primary for U.S. House Florida District 1 without appearing on the ballot.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Cheryl Howard (D)

Republican primary

Republican primary for U.S. House Florida District 1

Incumbent Matt Gaetz (R) defeated John Mills (R) and Greg Merk (R) in the Republican primary for U.S. House Florida District 1 on August 18, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Matt Gaetz	80.9	87,457
		John Mills	9.6	10,383
		Greg Merk	9.5	10,227

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 108,067 (100% precincts reporting)
= 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

• Chase Anderson Romagnano (R)
• Emily Rosas (R)

District analysis

Click the tabs below to view information about voter composition, past elections, and demographics in both the district and the state.

• District map - A map of the district in place for the election.
• Competitiveness - Information about the competitiveness of 2026 U.S. House elections in the state.
• Presidential elections - Information about presidential elections in the district and the state.
• State party control - The partisan makeup of the state's congressional delegation and state government.

• District map
• Competitiveness
• Presidential elections
• State party control

Below is the district map in place for this election. Click the map below to enlarge it.

See also: Primary election competitiveness in state and federal government, 2026

Information about competitiveness will be added here as it becomes available.

Partisan Voter Index

See also: The Cook Political Report's Partisan Voter Index

Heading into the 2026 elections, based on results from the 2024 and 2020 presidential elections, the Cook Partisan Voter Index for this district is R+18. This meant that in those two presidential elections, this district's results were 18 percentage points more Republican than the national average. This made Florida's 1st the 43rd most Republican district nationally.

2020 presidential election results

The table below shows what the vote in the 2024 presidential election was in this district. The presidential election data was compiled by The Downballot.

2024 presidential results in Florida's 1st Congressional District

Kamala Harris	Donald Trump
31.0%	68.0%

Presidential voting history

See also: Presidential election in Florida, 2024

Florida presidential election results (1900-2024)

• 17 Democratic wins
• 15 Republican wins

Year	1900	1904	1908	1912	1916	1920	1924	1928	1932	1936	1940	1944	1948	1952	1956	1960	1964	1968	1972	1976	1980	1984	1988	1992	1996	2000	2004	2008	2012	2016	2020	2024
Winning Party	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	R	D	D	D	D	D	R	R	R	D	R	R	D	R	R	R	R	D	R	R	D	D	R	R	R

See also: Party control of Florida state government

Congressional delegation

The table below displays the partisan composition of Florida's congressional delegation as of October 2025.

Congressional Partisan Breakdown from Florida
Party	U.S. Senate	U.S. House	Total
Democratic	0	8	8
Republican	2	20	22
Independent	0	0	0
Vacancies	0	0	0
Total	2	28	30

State executive

The table below displays the officeholders in Florida's top four state executive offices as of October 2025.

State executive officials in Florida, October 2025

Office	Officeholder
Governor	Ron DeSantis
Lieutenant Governor	Jay Collins
Secretary of State	Cord Byrd
Attorney General	James Uthmeier

State legislature

Florida State Senate

Party		As of October 2025
	Democratic Party	11
	Republican Party	26
	Other	1
	Vacancies	2
Total		40

Florida House of Representatives

Party		As of October 2025
	Democratic Party	32
	Republican Party	86
	Other	0
	Vacancies	2
Total		120

Trifecta control

Florida Party Control: 1992-2025
One year of a Democratic trifecta  •  Twenty-six years of Republican trifectas
Scroll left and right on the table below to view more years.

Year	92	93	94	95	96	97	98	99	00	01	02	03	04	05	06	07	08	09	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25
Governor	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	I	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R
Senate	D	S	S	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R
House	D	D	D	D	D	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R

See also

Florida	2026 primaries	2026 U.S. Congress elections
Florida congressional delegation Voting in Florida Florida elections: 2026 • 2025 • 2024 • 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018	Democratic primary battlegrounds Republican primary battlegrounds U.S. Senate Democratic primaries U.S. Senate Republican primaries U.S. House Democratic primaries U.S. House Republican primaries	U.S. Congress elections U.S. Senate elections U.S. House elections Special elections Ballot access

External links

• Search Google News for this topic

Footnotes

[show]

Florida's current delegation to the United States Congress

Senators

Ashley Moody (R)

Rick Scott (R)

Representatives

District 1

Jimmy Patronis (R)

District 2

Neal Dunn (R)

District 3

Kat Cammack (R)

District 4

Aaron Bean (R)

District 5

John Rutherford (R)

District 6

Randy Fine (R)

District 7

Cory Mills (R)

District 8

Mike Haridopolos (R)

District 9

Darren Soto (D)

District 10

Maxwell Frost (D)

District 11

Daniel Webster (R)

District 12

Gus Bilirakis (R)

District 13

Anna Luna (R)

District 14

Kathy Castor (D)

District 15

Laurel Lee (R)

District 16

Vern Buchanan (R)

District 17

Greg Steube (R)

District 18

Scott Franklin (R)

District 19

Byron Donalds (R)

District 20

Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D)

District 21

Brian Mast (R)

District 22

Lois Frankel (D)

District 23

Jared Moskowitz (D)

District 24

Frederica Wilson (D)

District 25

Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D)

District 26

Mario Diaz-Balart (R)

District 27

Maria Elvira Salazar (R)

District 28

Carlos Gimenez (R)

Republican Party (22)

Democratic Party (8)

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Election information

Ballot access for major and minor party candidates • List of candidates running for election • List of congressional challengers • Retiring senators • Retiring representatives

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Super PACs/Organizations

American Bridge 21st Century • American Crossroads • American Unity PAC • Campaign for Primary Accountability • Club for Growth Action • Congressional Leadership Fund • Cooperative of American Physicians IE Committee• Crossroads Generation • Ending Spending Action Fund • Endorse Liberty • Fair Share Action • FreedomWorks for America • Government Integrity Fund • House Majority PAC • Independence USA Fund • League of Conservation Voters • Liberty for All PAC • Majority PAC • National Association of Realtors • NEA Advocacy Fund • Now or Never PAC • Planned Parenthood Votes • Ready for Hillary • Republicans for a Prosperous America • Restore America's Voice PAC • SEIU Pea-Federal • Women Vote!

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