Retired Navy veteran Frank Curnow asked Republican volunteers Thursday at an early voting location in Daytona Beach, Florida.
He asked why some polls showed that in the sixth place in his reliable conservative congressional district, there was a strict game in his reliable conservative congressional district open seats?
“That's not good,” said Mr. Curnow, 77, a registered Republican who voted for the party's candidate Randy Fine because “he carries the Trump flag.” He added that the game was “critical.”
Voters in the area include the coast between St. Augustine and Daytona Beach to overwhelm the vote for President Trump. But on Tuesday, they will vote for a seemingly unusual competition to replace former representative Michael Waltz, who resigned as Mr. Trump's national security adviser.
Mr. Fine, facing Democratic and public school employee Josh Weil, is still welcome. But as Republicans clutch their majority, it's clear this week that voters in the region are thinking about the outcome of the game — and another game for former representative Matt Gaetz in Panhandle, Florida — against Mr. Trump's agenda could mean.
“It's important to keep the seat,” said Doreen Colby, a registered Republican of Daytona Beach, a 74-year-old. “We want to make sure Trump can continue to do what he's doing.”
After attacking Mr. Waltz and Mr. Gates’ cabinets, Mr. Trump quickly endorsed the candidates to replace them. (Mr. Gates later withdrew from the Attorney General, but has resigned from Congress.)
But while Florida CFO Jimmy Patronis is expected to win in Mr. Gates’ former district, which is very conservative, some Republicans have expressed concern about the District 6 game.
Mr. Trump won the registered Republicans in November with a one-on-one profit, almost twice as many Republicans as Democrats.
“We have a candidate I don't think we've won,” Mr. Trump's former chief strategist Stephen K. Bannon said of Mr. Fim last week in his War Room podcast.
On Thursday, Mr. Trump held a phone call for Mr. Fine, highlighting his loyalty to the administration’s agenda.
“It is not to let you down to say that your agenda is at risk in this election, and that’s not to say that your agenda is under threat.”
Since 1989, there has been only one Democrat – former Senator Bill Nelson has won the area in the federal campaign. Governor Ron DeSantis, who held seats from 2013 to 2018, won the seat with a double-digit margin.
In this week’s interview, loyal Republicans in the region were largely a supplement to Mr. Trump’s first months of his tenure. They praised his radical immigration enforcement and applauded the deep efforts of the federal workforce.
They said their vote for Mr. Fine would send a message that Mr. Trump’s actions so far were what they wanted. Leaders on both sides “all are talking about layoffs, but none of them do it, and Trump is the first to really do it,” said Greg Bohr, 74, a Palm Coast retiree. “My theory is to give that guy a chance.”
For Democrats, there is little despair about the legislative opposition Mr. Trump faces, and the special election is an opportunity to express his dissatisfaction.
Marcia Hopkins, 63, said: “I had to do something. (No one brought her with it.)
Mr. Trump, 61, who works in real estate in Deland, told the candidate: “I don't care if he's saving Bambi – based on his affiliation, which tells me everything I need to know.”
Mr. Hunter contacted him directly, and Mr. Weill said: “He ran at the right time.”
By Friday, Mr. Weill was recognized by Senator Bernie Sanders, who is independent of Vermont.
Mr. Weill, a public school teacher for a decade, said he would prioritize expanding access to health care and education if elected.
Mr. Weill also highlighted his objections to reducing the federal labor force and government aid programs. Nearly one-third of the region's population qualifies for social security. He also works hard to convince conservative voters, and he will be their voice, too.
“People want a representative who really serves and represents them,” Mr. Weir said in an interview with Stetson University in Delan. “They don't need 200 republican clones of carbon, all locked in.”
By mid-March, Mr. Weill had brought nearly $10 million, while Mr. Fine had raised less than $1 million. In the final week of the campaign, Republican external groups have invested more than $1 million in TV commercials for Mr. Fine. Elon Musk and his allies also invested money.
Despite national investment and high-profile visits, officials on both sides are warning the results of the game to hint at how voters feel about Mr. Trump.
If Mr. Fine doesn’t do like other Republicans in the region, Mr. DeSantis told reporters Tuesday: “This is not a reflection of President Trump – it reflects the reflection of a specific candidate in the game.” (Last year, Mr. Good recognized Mr. Trump in the Republican presidential primary.)
The Atlantic editor revealed that Mr. Walz accidentally included him in a group chat on the encrypted messaging application signals, a match that attracted more attention, sharing and discussing the plans for the Hotty rebel attack in Yemen on the encrypted messaging application signals. Mr. Walz faces a call for resignation given the sensitivity of the military plan.
However, there are few signs that the issue will be registered in the special election.
Some voters who supported Mr. Waltz in past elections downplayed their mistake of believing honesty, not even embarrassing. Others are confused about exactly what is going on.
“I don't know what the signal is,” said Michelle Moyer, 49, who helped run her family's wholesale sledding Bell business in South Daytona and voted in November for Mr. Waltz. More importantly, she said, is “filling waltz seats with like-minded people.”
“I thank the country for moving in the right direction,” she said. Mr. Good “agrees with the policies Trump is developing.”
Mr. Curnow, a Republican volunteer at the Daytona Beach voting venue on Thursday, voted in favor of being alert to the number of early votes. A man driving a car rolled down the window and told them that New York's representative Elise Stefanik would stay in her seat at Trump's request instead of becoming his ambassador to the United Nations.
“Yes,” Gisela Klobucar, one of the lead volunteers, applauded the news's reaction.
“We have one person around us,” she added.
Eric Adelson Report from Deland, Florida, and Abigail Geiger From Palm Coast, Florida. Theodore Schleifer and Ruth Igielnik Reports from Washington, DC
