Rep. Matt Gaetz Wins FL Primary BIGLY, Will Face Notorious Rebekah Jones in November – Opinion

Results from Florida’s primary election show that incumbent Rep. Matt Gaetz won the Congressional District 1 GOP primary by a landslide. Gaetz not only beat Mark Lombardo handsomely, but he also received more votes than any of the other candidates.

In a political hit ad aired by his opponent, Gaetz was accused of being the FBI informant in former President Donald Trump’s inner circle responsible for the FBI’s search at Mar-a-Lago. Trump gave Gaetz a late endorsement, signaling that the informant accusation against Gaetz was political fodder. Trump now has another step in his hierarchy of political influence post-presidency, with Gaetz winning his primary contest.

Together, all Dem primaries received fewer votes that Gaetz.

— Damin Toell – this is my notice of appearance (@damintoell) August 24, 2022

Rebekah Johnson, a Democrat opponent to Gaetz, will contest the general election. Jones’ candidacy was declared valid in the 11th hour, on the day of the primary, allowing her votes to be counted. A legal battle had been waged based on Jones not meeting the state law’s criteria requiring candidates to be registered with their preferred party for a year ahead of declaring candidacy.

Jones was best known as the man who challenged Governor Ron DeSantis on coronavirus reporting. Jones posed as a whistleblower within Florida Department of Health. FDOH Office of the Inspector General issued a report showing all of Jones’ claims were determined to be unsubstantiated and all those named in the charges were deemed exonerated.

She also targeted Christina Pushaw, who’s now DeSantis’s spokeswoman, after Pushaw wrote an article in Human Events calling Jones’ claims lies. Jones claimed Pushaw had stalked and doxxed her. He then launched an aggressive harassment campaign using the legal system to his advantage.

The Gaetz family also has some good news. Today, Stephen Alford, who was convicted of wire fraud in a plot attempting to extort Gaetz’s father, was sentenced to 5 years active time followed by three years of supervised release by U.S. District Judge Casey Rodgers.

Reacting to his victory, Gaetz declared that this election was the “sweetest” of all the elections he has ever won, saying:

“To get almost 70 percent of the vote, I think really tells me a lot about the connection I have with the voters of Northwest Florida. To be nominated by my party is a tremendous honor and Im very grateful to the tens of thousand of people who came out and voted for me this election.”

When asked how he deals with his critics and moves on, Gaetz responded, “Well, I don’t work for them. I work for the people of Northwest Florida.”