GOP Victory in Florida Special Elections Prompts Mixed Reactions

Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are weighing in after Republicans won a pair of congressional races in Florida but underperformed in the GOP strongholds. Republicans Jimmy Patronis and Randy Fine won the special election races on Tuesday night. Patronis will replace former Rep. Matt Gaetz in Florida’s 1st congressional district after defeating Democrat Gay Valimont. Fine will take over former Rep. Mike Waltz in the 6th congressional district, defeating Democrat Josh Weil. The two GOP wins have boosted the Republican margin in the House to 220–213. Republicans won after Democrats poured millions of dollars into the two races. The Republicans, however, won the contests with narrower margins than their predecessors, according to the Associated Press. Fine underperformed Waltz by about 10 percentage points....