Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

When tyranny becomes law, rebellion becomes duty. ~Thomas Jefferson

Not all heroes wear capes.

The line between political reporting and fan fiction continues to blur.

The low info voters probably won’t even notice or remember by their next lap around the goldfish bowl.

Marge, god is saying you’re stupid.

One way or another, he’s a liar.

There is no right way to do the wrong thing.

It’s all just conspiracy shit beamed down from the mothership.

The real work of an opposition party is to oppose.

I might just take the rest of the day off and do even more nothing than usual.

Just because you believe it, that does not make it true.

Consistently wrong since 2002

We do not need to pander to people who do not like what we stand for.

The worst democrat is better than the best republican.

It is not hopeless, and we are not helpless.

Oh FFS you might as well trust a 6-year-old with a flamethrower.

Is trump is trying to break black America over his knee? signs point to ‘yes’.

They love authoritarianism, but only when they get to be the authoritarians.

“When somebody takes the time to draw up a playbook, they’re gonna use it.”

If ‘weird’ was the finish line, they ran through the tape and kept running.

We are aware of all internet traditions.

Shut up, hissy kitty!

Republicans: The threats are dire, but my tickets are non-refundable!

Wake up. Grow up. Get in the fight.

You are here: Home / Political Fundraising / Targeted Political Fundraising 2025-26 / Florida Special Elections – Just 14 13 Days to Make a Difference

Florida Special Elections – Just 14 13 Days to Make a Difference

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Update at 5:56 pm: ANGEL MATCH IS COMPLETE! Thank you Redshift and everyone who donated.

Zoom With Four Directions Set for Thursday at 7 pm ET 1

April 1st is special election day in Florida to fill the empty seats of two grifters Trump pulled out of Congress to staff his regime.  These are safe Republican districts in ordinary times, and we would definitely take a pass.   But these are not ordinary times.

Boots On the Ground in Florida!

Florida special elections for the US House – is this a long shot or a potentially history making opportunity?

I would argue that it’s both.  Donate or volunteer!   We have just 13 days left for our dollars to make an impact.  

FL-01 is even more red than FL-06, so we have a better chance at winning in FL-06, but who knows?   Pick your own strategy – we have thermometers up for each seat, so you can decide.

FL-06 Josh Weil  (BlueSky)

FL-01 Gay Valimont  (BlueSky)

We have a new Balloon Juice Angel!

Redshift will match up to $25 per person up to a total of $500. He had some Tesla stock he had almost forgotten about, and sold it a couple of weeks ago, and it seems like poetic justice to use some of the proceeds here!

Thank you, Redshift!

Yesterday’s post, with lots more details.

Florida Special Elections – Long Shot? Or Potentially History Making Opportunity?

Meet the group that’s on the ground in Florida: National Ground Game

Short inspirational video from one of the founders below.   ⬇️

There are post-carding and canvassing opportunities – check out  their website.

Reader Interactions

59Comments

  1. 1.

    WaterGirl

    Thank you Redshift!

    As always, in order to be matched, tell us about your donation in the comments or by email to me

    Matching up to $25 per person, to a total of $500 for the match.

    New Angel, new match, and everyone is eligible again.

  2. 2.

    WaterGirl

    Here’s the bottom line from yesterday’s post.

    Is this a long shot?  What does victory look like?

    Is this a long shot?  I would argue that is a long shot and a potentially history making opportunity.

    Certainly FL-01 is a super long shot, but in this year, I think anything can happen.  Extremely low probability of an outright win in FL-01, but we’ll likely never see another moment where betting on  long shot like this, and winning, could literally change the course of history.

    What does “victory” look like in the special elections?   If we win even one of them, that puts us one family emergency or bad case of the flu away from close Republican votes failing.

    If we can’t flip either seat, is there victory to be found in substantially narrower margins?  What does that mean for the New York special election?

     No one knows.  Uncharted territory.  There be dragons.

    But if you want to do something, here’s your opportunity.

  5. 5.

    VFX Lurker

    I made two donations (it’s OK if only one qualifies for the match!)

    • $25 to FL-01
    • $25 to FL-06

    Thank you, WaterGirl, for focusing our efforts.

    YOU ROCK, REDSHIFT!

  6. 6.

    WaterGirl

    FYI, in case anyone is interested in the big picture…

    Fighting for every seat in the House.

    After March 18 we will start raising funds for the third Special Election for the House, which will be the NY seat.

  11. 11.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    I started a monthly donation to the DCCC via ActBlue, on the assumption (justified?) that they’ll know where to put the money for these and other races that may pop up.

    I wanted to make it weekly, the way I had my Kamala Harris donation set up, but that doesn’t seem to be a normal option at ActBlue. So I guess I’ll just do manual donations weekly till the election. But maybe I’ll target the next few weeks to the specific races.

    I also have a standing monthly donation to the DSCC.

  12. 12.

    WaterGirl

    @Ceci n est pas mon nym: That’s definitely one way to do it, and everything helps. Personally, I often don’t like where and how those two groups spend that money, and it seems to never be boots on the ground, so I prefer to donate where I know how it will be spent.

    We all have to follow our own hearts.

  13. 13.

    Fair Economist

    I think of the FL special elections as a reconnaissance in force – the main goal is to figure out how much of a swing we can get in special elections under Trump, but there is a chance we’ll actually take something

    $100 from me.

  14. 14.

    Doc Sardonic

    Can vouch for boots on the ground in FL6. Got a visit this morning from a Weil volunteer.

  15. 15.

    tobie

    I’m low on funds but I did sign up to phone bank in FL-06 this weekend. I can do that through to the special election.

  18. 18.

    Joy in FL

    I just put in $10 to each of the Florida special elections.

    I mailed 5 postcards for Josh Weil yesterday.  The ads I see (involuntarily) on Instagram for Gay Valimont are good.

  24. 24.

    Geminid .

    @Ceci n est pas mon nym: The DCCC just made their first “Frontline” list of Democrats with especially tough races in prospect. They listed 26, including 13 who won districts that Trump carried last year.

    Politico had article about the list that I summarised in the morning thread, at comment #147.

  25. 25.

    Elizabelle

    Interesting.  The 6th, with candidate Josh Weil (Michael Waltz left to become National Security Advisor), was Ron DeSantis’s congressional district.

    It is Florida’s Palm Coast; stretches from south St. Augustine to south Daytona; includes Daytona Beach.

    Stretches inland to outskirts of Ocala, Leesburg, and Sanford (hello, Auto Train).

    From wiki: The district contains over 525,000 registered voters, of whom just over 39% are Democratic, while slightly more than 41% identify as Republican.

    Last time the district went for a Democrat in a statewide race was 2012, with Senator Bill Nelson.

    It went 64% for Trump in 2024.

  27. 27.

    WaterGirl

    @Elizabelle: That’s 20% who are not declared as either R or D.

    Seems to me that with the way things are going with the wanna-be-King, that 20% might not be too happy.

  28. 28.

    H.E.Wolf

    Thank you to the angels and donors, and to WaterGirl for getting us schooled (in the fishie sense) so that we can take action.

    No one knows. Uncharted territory. There be dragons.

    Very true. And some of those dragons are us!

  29. 29.

    Elizabelle

    @WaterGirl:  Indeed.  Interesting situation.

    Josh Weil is a school teacher. And.  He lives in Orlando and works in Kissimmee.  Neither of which is in the 6th congressional district; both some miles south of it.  I hope he can win.

    From the Daytona Beach News-Journal, in December:

    Josh Weil, 40, is a math teacher and instructional coach at New Beginnings Education Center and Kissimmee Middle School, part of the Osceola County Public Schools. He made a bid for the Senate before dropping out just prior to qualifying in 2022, when then-U.S. Rep. Val Demings went on to challenge Marco Rubio, the incumbent.

    Weil will be among the longest of longshots in a district that was 49% Republican and 26% Democrat going into the Nov. 5 election. Donald Trump won with more than 60% in each of the six counties that make up the 6th District.

    … Weil’s theory is that there are two groups of dissatisfied voters: Democrats and those who voted for Republicans who didn’t bargain on the direction Trump has taken with his transition.

    “I don’t think a lot of people understood what tariffs meant, or what the trickle-down impact of tariffs would be for working-class families,” he said. “And I don’t think a lot of people understood what the impact for rural school districts would be when you dissolve and abolish the federal Department of Education. And now that these things aren’t just talking points, but they’re real impending action that is about to impact people’s lives.”

  31. 31.

    Doc Sardonic

    @WaterGirl: Fl6 has a lot of rural, redneck MAGA area but it is sparsely populated. What complicates things is the blue areas in Volusia and Flagler counties are leaning red due to the influx of MAGA to the Free State of Florida. The determinant on this one is going to be threefold I think. Turnout on our side or lack of turnout on the Repub side, which way the wind is blowing in the section of The Villages in the district, and how pissed or not people are with what’s going on. Also did I mention turnout? That said Josh Weil is running a better campaign, for a Democrat, in this district than I have seen in a long time, Randy Fine has been silent as best I can tell, have seen no mailers, not sure about radio or tv ads for either candidate as I don’t consume either medium.

  32. 32.

    H.E.Wolf

    @Josie: @H.E.Wolf: When you request addresses from Postcard to Voters, do your three days start that day or the next day?

     That’s a good question! If you request addresses on a Monday, they are due in the mail on a Thursday: 3 business days later.

    Postcards To Voters, which uses the 3-day system, always includes the due date when you get addresses.

    Note: “3 business days” means, in practice, that when you request addresses from PTV on a Thursday, the due date is LISTED as Sunday. But since there is no mail pickup on Sundays, the true due date is Monday.

    I live near a post office; so I can request addresses on a Thursday, miss the Monday morning pickup by our mail carrier if I’m running late, and deliver my completed cards to the P.O. in the late afternoon, to catch the final pickup of the day.

  35. 35.

    WaterGirl

    Thanks to everyone who has donated!  We just passed the halfway point.

    $230 left on Redshift’s match!

  38. 38.

    Hildebrand

    I’d like to register the complaint that it’s pretty bloody annoying for MisterMix to post without being able to comment here.  Either have the courage to open comments or don’t post.

  48. 48.

    eclare

    Hey, a good friend of mine got a questionnaire from the American Community Survey, supposedly part of the US Census Bureau.  I don’t see how the questions are legal, but she is freaking out because JAIL! if you don’t respond.  Has anyone else received this?

  49. 49.

    Old School

    @eclare:

    I haven’t received it, but it’s legit:

    If your address was selected for the American Community Survey, you are legally obligated to answer all the questions, as accurately as you can. The relevant laws are Title 18 U.S.C Section 3571 and Section 3559, which amends Title 13 U.S.C. Section 221.

    Your answers are important. The American Community Survey is sent to a small percentage of our population on a rotating basis. As part of a sample, you represent many other people. Learn how you can respond to the survey today.

    Why is the ACS required by law?

    Response to the survey is required by law because the American Community Survey is part of the decennial census, replacing the “long form” that previously was sent to a percentage of households once every 10 years. Learn more about what would happen to the American Community Survey if it was not required.

  51. 51.

    jimmiraybob

    @Baud: ”

    “The American Dream is to have a nation of serfs.”

    Nonsense, the American Dream is to have a nation of peasants.

  52. 52.

    WaterGirl

    The beatings will continue until morale improves.

    That used to be mostly a joke in reference to bullshit at work.  I never thought I would see it as the goal of an entire administration.

    I nearly wrote “leader of the free world”, but that no longer applies to the U.S.

  53. 53.

    WaterGirl

    Thanks to everyone who donated while I was out!

    We are 2/3 of the way to meeting this Angel match.

  54. 54.

    NaijaGal

    Donated $50 to each effort (FL-06 Josh Weil and FL-01 Gay Valimont) via ActBlue. On vacation today, so catching up on BJ posts.

  55. 55.

    WaterGirl

    @NaijaGal:   Thank you!

    Just found 4 donation comments in yesterday’s thread that I hadn’t seen before.

    That completes this Angel match from Redshirt.

    Thank you so much everyone!!!

  56. 56.

    chopper

    i keep getting fundraising texts first thing in the morning before i’ve woken up from gay valimont and i swear every time i think they say they’re from “gay voldimort”

Comments are closed.