Republicans Randy Fine and Jimmy Patronis win special elections in Florida's 1st and 6th House of Representatives Districts

U.S. media outlet Decision Desk HQ projected as winners of the special election for the U.S. House of Representatives in Florida's first district and sixth congressional district Republicans Jimmy Patronis and Randy Fine. Although the official agencies have not published the results, the media specialized in statistics and electoral events published its projection twelve minutes after the polls officially closed. Other media outlets, such as Politico and the Huffington Post, also declared the conservative candidates the winners. Even U.S. President Donald Trump announced the victory on his social media, as did several Democratic leaders.

While a close enough election was expected to leave the Democratic Party with a chance of emerging victorious in this special election, the victories of Patronis and Fine manifest the effectiveness of the maximum mobilization strategy executed by Republicans in recent days. Fine, a conservative state senator and was publicly endorsed by Donald Trump, defeated left-wing academic Josh Weil, about whom several media highlighted in the last days that he could give the real surprise due to the good performance he showed in several polls. For his part, Patronis, finance director of the Florida governor's office, defeated anti-gun activist Gay Valimont, who had raised nearly $7 million in donations.

Good news for the Trump administration

The results represent great news for both Trump and his administration, considering that the victories by Fine and Patronis not only add two new heavy-hitting figures to the Florida in Congress, but they also further widen the margin with which the Republican leader and the White House will be able to work as they seek to push their agenda through the U.S. Congress. Thus, Trump's lead in the House of Representatives stands at 220 Republicans versus 213 Democrats.

With this victory, Fine replaces the vacancy left by Michael Waltz, who recently resigned after Trump appointed him as the new White House Homeland Security adviser. Patronis replaces the vacancy left by Matt Gaetz, who resigned when Trump appointed him as the country's attorney general, a position he ultimately could not assume when he withdrew his candidacy.