Matt Gaetz, a Republican lawmaker, won his party’s nomination for Florida’s 1st Congressional district. The controversial GOP legislator bested challenger Mark Lombardo in Tuesday’s primary elections in Florida.

Federal authorities have been investigating Gaetz, who has been accused of sex trafficking. However, the probe has not resulted in any official charges so far.  

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Gaetz, the incumbent, was expected to face to a tough challenge from Lombardo, who reportedly invested more than $500,000 in election ads alone. However, Gaetz comfortably secured more than 66% of the votes, while Lombardo tallied about 23.7%.

Florida’s 1st Congressional district has been heavily Republican for years. It also served a major victory for Donald Trump in the 2020 elections. 

On the Democratic side, Rebekah Jones won the primary election on Tuesday, defeating opponent Peggy Schiller. Jones will now Gaetz in the upcoming midterm elections in November.

Rebekah Jones is a former Department of Health employee who received national attention after she questioned the state’s COVID-19 dashboard and claimed Florida wasn’t reporting accurate numbers — an allegation that an inspector general’s report said was unfounded.

Other Congressional and state office races in Florida seemed to be favouring the incumbents. US Senator Marco Rubio and Republican governor Ron DeSantis managed to secure the GOP nomination for the midterms.

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Meanwhile, hotly contested primaries stem from the departure of four House members, the acquisition of a new congressional district thanks to Florida’s booming population, and new maps drawn by DeSantis’ office that could boost Republicans even further.

Once the nation’s largest swing state, Florida has trended more Republican in recent years. Trump won it twice, and the GOP’s domination of the legislature has given DeSantis a national platform to carry out a brash brand of culture war politics that’s delighted big GOP donors and sparked speculation he’ll run for president.