Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Wednesday levied harsh words against Randy Fine, who was elected the day before to Florida’s 6th district seat in the House of Representatives. Fine has served as a state legislator since 2016, encompassing DeSantis’ entire term thus far as governor.
“These are voters who didn’t like Randy Fine,” DeSantis said, “but who basically are like, ‘You know what? We’re going to take one for the team, the president needs another vote up there, and so we’re going to do it.’”
Background
Randy Fine, a Republican, was initially expected to win the special congressional election with ease and little drama, but Democrat Josh Weil surged in polls late in the race causing reported anxiety within Fine’s camp. The election was held due to President Donald Trump’s selection of former Congressman Michael Waltz to be his national security adviser. Fine won with 57% of the vote, a far cry from the 64% that Trump pulled in November.
DeSantis called Fine’s election victory an ‘underperformance’, contrasting it to his own regional showing when he ran for a second term as governor in 2022. He then called Fine a ‘squish’, referring to a Reagan-era term for a conservative who was unreliable for the Republican agenda.
Specifically, he accused Fine of being anti-Second Amendment when he voted in favor of raising the minimum age to purchase some guns from 18 to 21 after the Parkland school shooting in 2018. In response to DeSantis, Fine tweeted on Wednesday that “a dying star burns hottest before it fades into oblivion“.
Where the Feud Started
Randy Fine was once a loyal supporter of Ron DeSantis’ political priorities in the Florida legislature. When DeSantis feuded with the Walt Disney Company over social issues in Florida, Fine took the bold – and at the time legally dubious – step to file a bill that dissolved Disney’s special district allowing it to oversee the land where it operates Walt Disney World.
Things took a turn in the 2024 Republican presidential primary, when Fine endorsed Donald Trump instead of DeSantis. During that cycle, the formerly closely-aligned Trump and DeSantis also grew apart, with each taking veiled shots at each other in the lead-up to Trump winning the nomination. Trump personally selected Fine to run in the 2025 special congressional election, and issued a swift endorsement once Fine entered the race. DeSantis never endorsed Fine, and even went so far as to say Trump “got really bad advice about endorsing him”.
