Gaetz gets last-minute Florida GOP primary challenger in boost to McCarthy allies
By
Rachel Schilke
April 29, 2024 12:20 pm
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Former California Rep. Kevin McCarthy has a chance for revenge against Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) in the form of a GOP primary challenger in the 2024 election.
Former naval officer and aviator Aaron Dimmock filed his paperwork on Friday, the deadline, to run against Gaetz, who led a coalition of seven other House GOP members to join all Democrats in ousting McCarthy last fall. Dimmock is the director of leadership programs at the University of West Florida’s Aylstock, Witkin, Kreis & Overholtz Center for Leadership.
Dimmock’s entry is a win for McCarthy and his allies, who have long criticized Gaetz for the former speaker’s removal as being personally motivated. Gaetz had accused McCarthy of making a “back deal” with Democrats to pass a continuing resolution, but the former speaker alleged the reason was due to an ethics investigation into the Florida congressman.
McCarthy recently blamed the months of GOP infighting and a “broken” conference on Gaetz.
“I think they’re in disarray, but it stems from those eight [Republicans] working with all the Democrats,” McCarthy said in a MediaBuzz interview. “The conference is broken because they never dealt with those eight, and until they do, it would stay broken.”
“What Matt Gaetz did has broken the Republican majority. He’s now created Lord of the Flies. Ask anybody inside our conference. They actually know it,” the former speaker said.
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https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/house/2982877/gaetz-florida-gop-primary-challenger-boost-mccarthy-allies/
