(DCWatchdog.com) – Known for his fiery rhetoric, Republican congressman Matt Gaetz won his Florida primary election against a challenger backed by former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.
Aided by seven other Republican lawmakers, Gaetz played a major role in McCarthy’s ousting last year.
A strong ally of former President Donald Trump, Gaetz easily defeated Navy veteran Aaron Dimmock. Given the conservative leanings of his military-heavy district, he is likely to win another two-year term this fall.
Throughout the campaign, Gaetz went on the attack, labeling Dimmock a carpetbagger due to his ties to Missouri.
Dimmock owns a home in Missouri and has done consulting work there. Despite working for the University of West Florida and spending time in Florida during his Navy career, the label stuck.
With this victory, seven of the eight Republicans who voted to oust McCarthy have now survived the former Speaker’s so-called “revenge tour.”
However, House Freedom Caucus Chairman Bob Good (R-VA) was not as fortunate, losing by a narrow margin to McCarthy and Trump-backed John McGuire after a recount confirmed the result.
The feud between McCarthy and Gaetz has gone beyond typical political rivalry, getting personal.
In turn, at the Republican convention last month, McCarthy attacked Gaetz over the House Ethics Committee’s ongoing investigation into allegations of sex trafficking and inappropriate relations with an underage girl. Gaetz hit back, mocking McCarthy and hinting he would get booed if he spoke at the event.
Earlier this year, McCarthy endorsed Dimmock and compared Gaetz to Joe Biden’s troubled son, Hunter, who has been embroiled in scandals involving drugs and sex.
“Gaetz is the Hunter Biden of the Republican Party,” McCarthy said. “He’s got an opponent who is pro-life, pro-Second Amendment, trained at Pensacola, went to the Naval Academy, and flew jets to defend us while Gaetz was getting kicked out of high school, buying coke, and paying minors for sex.”
Last year, the Department of Justice (DOJ) cleared Gaetz of any criminal conduct after investigating the sex trafficking allegations. Yet, the House Ethics Committee continues its own probe into the matter.
Additionally, McCarthy’s allies flooded Gaetz’s district with $3 million worth of ads, emphasizing the sex-trafficking allegations, which Gaetz denies. The ads aimed to weaken Gaetz’s primary campaign and his potential plans to run for governor in 2026.
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