Florida GOP primaries: Randy Fine holds off challengers, Byron Donalds wins governor race
A Republican primary challenge against Rep. Randy Fine over his hardline Israel stance failed badly, showing that foreign policy anger on the right still loses to money and a Trump endorsement.
- Aaron Baker, who ran against Fine from the right for more than a year, finished with about 13% of the vote.
- Fine won mainly on Trump's backing — Trump carried the district by 30 points, and the endorsement was the centerpiece of every ad and sign.
- The anti-Fine vote split between Baker, Dan Bilzerian, and others; a combined 43% wanted an alternative but never lined up behind one candidate.
- Bilzerian ran almost no campaign events and pushed rhetoric about Jews that turned off older Republican voters, finishing only slightly ahead of Baker despite spending millions.
- In the governor's primary, James Fishback drew big young crowds and 170,000 votes but still came third behind Byron Donalds, who won.
Outlook: Donalds heads into a general election polling roughly even with Democrat David Jolly in a state Republicans recently won by 20 points.