Gov. DeSantis calls for quick special elections as Gaetz, Waltz plan move to Trump administration

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Gov. Ron DeSantis on Thursday said he has instructed Florida Secretary of State Cord Byrd to formulate and immediately announce a schedule for special elections. This follows the expectation that Florida Congressmen Matt Gaetz and Mike Waltz will join President-elect Donald Trump’s administration next year.

While ideally, Floridians would like to see all the special elections on one ballot, that may not happen.

The Supervisor of Elections in Duval County told News4JAX on Thursday it is working on where, when and how people will vote, as well as what it will cost.

“It depends a lot on how close they are to other congressional districts, how they will align with who’s going to run for them,” Supervisor of Elections Jerry Holland said.

Holland has his eyes on what Trump is doing, and Florida has been Trump’s go-to spot to fill out his administration.

So far he named Rep. Gaetz as Attorney General, and Gaetz quickly resigned his congressional seat.

Trump also named Rep. Waltz as his National Security Advisor, but he is still awaiting confirmation and has not resigned his seat.

MORE|Trump asks Rep. Mike Waltz, who grew up in Jacksonville, to be his national security adviser | Matt Gaetz once faced a sex trafficking investigation by the Justice Department he could now lead

Trump also named Senator Marco Rubio as his Secretary of State, a position that also must be confirmed.

“Rubio, it’s a little bit different. On the US Senate, the governor can appoint someone for that position, so there will not be a special election for US Senate,” Holland said.

Down the road, there would be an election for that Senate seat as part of the 2026 election cycle. It would be for the remaining two years, of Rubio’s term. The person who’s appointed could run and so could other candidates.

But if Waltz and Gaetz’s seats both wind up open soon, it could create several special elections.

MORE | What Republicans are saying about Matt Gaetz’s nomination for attorney general

Holland said the first candidates will be given time to qualify.

“It could take anywhere from four months to six months,” Holland said.

Byrd, posted on X in response to DeSantis congratulating all three elected officials.

“We will have this schedule posted soon, and we are working to ensure these special elections are conducted as soon as possible,” Byrd wrote.

While Gaetz’s district is in the panhandle, Waltz’s district includes voters in St. Johns and Flagler counties.

And if other elected officials choose to run for the congressional seats, that could lead to additional special elections, all of which come at a cost to taxpayers.

Holland explained what the impact could be in Duval County.

“If it’s just a district person we’re running, then that’s 1/14th of the cost for a county-wide election. So we could be less than a half a million if it’s just a council person, if it’s a county-wide we could be in the neighborhood of $3 or $4 million,” he said.

Holland said in addition to Election Day voting, there would be early voting, just like for any other election.

But the number of locations, days and times could vary.