Republicans have the upper hand in the upcoming special election taking place in Florida's 6th district, but the contest is expected to be much closer than initially anticipated, leaving GOP leaders uneasy about the political message the outcome could convene.
The contest to fill the seat left open by national security adviser Mike Waltz will take place between Republican Randy Fine and Democrat Josh Weil. Waltz had won the district by some 30 points, but the most recent poll shows Fine leading within its margin of error.
Concretely, the survey conducted by St. Pete Polls for Florida politics shows Fine with 48% of the vote compared to Weil's 44%. The survey was conducted among 403 likely voters on March 22 and has a 4.9% margin of error.
Moreover, among those who had already voted, over half (51%) said they supported Weil. In contrast, 43% of those who voted by mail or did so early in person supported Fine.
Voters without party affiliation have skewed toward Weil, getting 57% of their support, compared to 34% for Fine.
Republicans have showed concern about the state of the race, especially as Weil vastly outraised Fine throughout the campaign. Last Week Fine had raised less than $1 million and currently has a little over $90,000 on hand, while Weil raised $9 million and had over a million at his disposal.
Fine is being aided by the Republican Party of Florida, which launched a joint ad buy with Fine, spending over $900,000, the outlet added. Defend American Jobs, a super PAC tied to the crypto industry, also spent $1 million on an ad blitz that began two weeks ago.
Weil, a teacher from Orlando, recently told the Daytona Beach news-Journal that he is not "running against Mike Waltz, who is their chosen representative time after time," but against "Randy Fine, who is someone they have never elected or voted on, who is someone they have never sat back and said, 'This is our guy.'"
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