Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) believes former Home Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) pushed Aaron Dimmock to run within the major, which was beforehand uncontested.
Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) will face a major challenger in August after former naval aviator Aaron Dimmock filed to run in Florida’s First Congressional District on April 26, the day of the qualifying deadline.
Mr. Dimmock, a Republican from Missouri who works at a Florida college, is the one Republican challenger operating in opposition to Mr. Gaetz in 2024, in line with the Florida Division of Elections. The congressman wrote on social media that he believes Mr. Dimmock was pushed to run by former Home Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), whom Mr. Gaetz ousted in October 2023 with a movement to vacate supported by seven different Republicans and all Home Democrats.
The incumbent congressman known as Mr. Dimmock a “puppet” of Mr. McCarthy in an April 29 put up on the social platform X.
The Epoch Instances reached out to Mr. McCarthy for remark.
Mr. Gaetz, 41, has clinched each Republican major in Florida’s First District with greater than 60 p.c of the vote since 2018 after narrowly successful a plurality in 2016 with 36.1 p.c of the vote. He additionally holds a substantial money benefit over Mr. Dimmock, with greater than $2 million money available as of March 31, in line with Federal Election Fee (FEC) information.
Mr. Dimmock’s LinkedIn profile signifies he was lately the director of the Missouri Management Academy and, earlier than that, a senior adviser to the U.S. Division of the Navy.
Mr. Gaetz mentioned he was “excited to welcome Missouri-based DEI teacher Aaron Dimmock to the marketing campaign” in an announcement to The Epoch Instances, referring to range, fairness, and inclusion.
“Aaron just isn’t in Kansas anymore. That is Trump Nation. Our pronouns are USA and MAGA. I’m a proud Trump Republican. I stand shoulder to shoulder with President Trump to defeat Joe Biden, safe our border, restore our economic system, and help our veterans.
“I will by no means cease preventing for President Trump or for the folks of the First Congressional District,” he mentioned.
In an e-mail to The Epoch Instances, a spokesperson for Mr. Gaetz shared obvious screenshots from Mr. Dimmock’s LinkedIn web page, which function posts supporting “BlackLivesMatter” and “range and inclusion” from 2020 and 2021, when he was a director at Chapman & Co. Management Institute, a office coaching firm.
The Epoch Instances reached out to Mr. Dimmock for remark.
Gaetz’s Previous Victories
Regardless of dealing with major challengers in each earlier congressional election, Mr. Gaetz would have gone straight to the final election this yr till Mr. Dimmock filed and certified on the final minute.
Homosexual Valimont is operating uncontested for the Democratic ticket and has simply over $24,000 money available, in line with March 31 FEC filings. Her web site describes her as a “gun violence prevention activist” who’s dedicated to “enhancing public security.” Ms. Valimont was beforehand an athletic coach for Emory Sports activities Drugs in Atlanta, Georgia.
“I’m Homosexual Valimont—formally YOUR DEMOCRATIC NOMINEE in opposition to Matt Gaetz. Let’s ship a message to Matt: Florida deserves higher,” she mentioned in an April 27 put up on X.
Florida’s First Congressional District covers the western portion of the state’s Panhandle.
Mr. Gaetz beat Democrat Rebekah Jones with 67.9 p.c of the vote in 2022 and Democrat Phil Ehr with 64.6 p.c of the vote in 2020, which noticed a “no social gathering affiliation” problem from candidate Albert Oram.