Although Gov. Ron DeSantis has been scheduling special elections to fill some vacant Florida positions created by several officials being tapped for posts in the Trump administration, a new lawsuit claims the governor has been too slow to act.
A lawsuit filed on behalf of voters in Florida Senate District 19 in Brevard County and state House District 3 in the Florida Panhandle argues that inaction by the governor on setting special elections threatens to deprive voters in the districts of representation. The complaint was filed in the Second Judicial Circuit Court by attorneys with the ACLU of Florida.
“The vacancies arose over 40 days ago, when the vacating legislators resigned to run in special elections for Congress,” the lawsuit filed on Jan. 9 states. “The governor’s failure – inaction longer than any of his predecessors in known history – leaves the constituents of SD 19 and HD 3 without representation and threatens to deprive them of a voice in the halls of the Capitol during the 2025 session set to begin in March.”
Since the complaint was filed, however, DeSantis moved to schedule a special primary election for the SD 19 seat on April 1, with a general election to follow on June 10. But even so, the 19th District would lack representation for the majority of this year’s legislative session, which starts on March 4.
In the case of House District 3, incumbent Rep. Joel Rudman (R-Navarre) resigned effective Jan. 1 to run for a special election for the congressional district previously held by Matt Gaetz. The governor scheduled that primary election for Jan. 28 and the general election for April 1.
The special election for the Sixth Congressional District will be held on the same days. In that district, incumbent Michael Waltz resigned on Nov. 24 after being chosen by the Trump administration to be national security advisor. State Sen. Randy Fine, the Republican who holds the 19th District seat, will be a candidate for Waltz’s former position.
The lawsuit notes that DeSantis was quick to schedule special elections for the congressional seats, but he has been waiting more than a month to schedule special elections in the state legislative races.
“Unless the governor sets a special election very soon, petitioner (Janet) Forrest and other HD 3 residents will go without representation for the entirety of the 2025 session,” the lawsuit states. “Petitioner Laimont and other SD 19 residents will go without representation for half of the session.”
The complaint asks the court to issue a writ of mandamus to force the governor to schedule the special elections as soon as possible.
The co-president of the League of Women Voters of Florida, Cecile Scoon, said the governor’s delay in scheduling special elections in the legislative districts is puzzling.
“Why was the governor’s office able to call those (congressional) special elections right away and not these other ones?” Scoon told the Florida Record. “It doesn’t seem to be logical or consistent.”
Scheduling the special elections quickly helps potential candidates to decide if they can obtain adequate donations and signatures to run and ensures fewer gaps in representation for citizens in those districts, she said.
“Setting the elections gives people more notice,” Scoon said. “Silence gives less notice.”
Florida’s “resign-to-run” law bars a state elected official from qualifying as a candidate for another state or local elected position if the terms of the two offices overlap with each other. If that’s the case, the law requires a candidate to resign from the current office to run for another.