ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. — Portions of Florida will have a special election in early 2025 because President-elect Donald Trump named several Floridians to be part of his administration.
Days after winning reelection for the U.S. House of Representatives, Mike Waltz of St. Augustine Beach was tapped to be Trump’s national security advisor.
That action will send hundreds of thousands of people back to the polls in 2025 to elect someone to fill his position in District 6.
"Congressional District 6 consists of six counties," St. Johns County Supervisor of Elections Vicky Oak said. "St. Johns, all of Flagler, all of Putnam, a portion of Volusia, a portion of Lake and a portion of Marion counties."
Oakes and her team are preparing for the primary special election on Jan. 28 and the general special election on April 1.
Saturday was the deadline to qualify, and it was a crowded race with nine candidates:
- Aaron Baker (R) of Sorrento, Fla.
- Randy Fine (R) of Melbourne Beach, Fla.
- Ehsan Joarder (R) of Brooksville, Fla.
- Purvi Bangdiwala (D) of Daytona Beach, Fla.
- George A. "Ges" Selmont (D) of Elkton, Fla.
- Josh Weil (D) of Orlando, Fla.
- Andrew Parrot (LPF) of Ocala, Fla.
- Randall Terry (NPA) of Arlington, Tenn.
- Chuck Sheridan (WRI) of Merritt Island, Fla.
Not all of them live inside the district, which is perfectly legal.
"The law does not require congressmen to live in the district that they represent. It's the only office that is allowable," Oakes said.
In fact, she said Waltz does not live in the district, but he is just barely outside of it in St. Augustine Beach.
If you were registered to vote in the November election, you are still registered to vote in the special election.
However, if you want to vote by mail, you'll need to request that mail-in ballot, even if that’s how you voted in the November election.
"You do, because all vote-by-mail ballot requests expire following each general election. So our slate has been wiped clean," Oakes said.
Only the southern part of St. Johns County is in District 6. Residents can type their address into the St. Johns County Supervisor of Elections website to determine if they are in the district.
All of Putnam and all of Flagler counties are in the district.
If you want to change your party affiliation for the special election, the deadline is Dec. 30.