Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz on Tuesday trounced his primary opponent, Navy veteran Aaron Dimmock, who was backed by former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.
The win was the end of the road for McCarthy’s “revenge tour” against the group of Republicans who led the effort ousting him from the speakership last October.
The Florida Republican was the last of the eight Republicans who pushed McCarthy out of his leadership post to face reelection.
— Matt Gaetz (@mattgaetz) August 21, 2024
Efforts by [McCarthy] and his allies to exact revenge had largely been unsuccessful. Just one of them, Freedom Caucus Chairman Bob Good (R-Va.), has lost his primary.
Two others — Reps. Ken Buck (R-Col.) and Matt Rosendale (R-Mont.) — opted against running for reelection.
One key distinction between Gaetz and Good is that the Floridian has close relations with former President Donald Trump. The former president had endorsed Good’s opponent.
During the Florida GOP primary cycle this year, The Freedom Patriots PAC — a group that is widely seen as aligned with McCarthy — spent some $3 million to take down Gaetz.
They appeared to ramp down spending on the primary weeks before Tuesday.
Some of the attacks against Gaetz included ads predicated on allegations that the congressman engaged in sexual misconduct.
Other ads highlighted his past ties with ex-Florida tax collector Joel Greenberg, who was sentenced to 11 years behind bars for sex trafficking, among other crimes.
Gaetz has long denied the allegations against him and cited the Justice Department’s decision against bringing charges as vindication. (New York Post)
Groups with ties to McCarthy's circle spent millions on ads trying to take Gaetz down.
On X, he appeared to taunt the former speaker over his landslide victory.
Sign me up for the next Revenge Tour pic.twitter.com/xnejrmEKQI
— Matt Gaetz (@mattgaetz) August 21, 2024