Gaetz and Waltz resigned after President Donald Trump tapped them for administrative positions, though Gaetz withdrew his nomination for attorney general after receiving major backlash from both parties. Waltz is now the national security adviser, a position that took effect immediately upon Trump’s inauguration as it is not subject to Senate confirmation.

Trump has made endorsements in the primaries for Florida’s 1st and 6th congressional districts, with the Republican winners of the primaries all but guaranteed to hold the seats.

Florida’s 1st Congressional District, which Gaetz represented, is considered to be one of the safest Republican strongholds in the state, as its four counties have voted for Republican presidential candidates for the last 60 years. Florida’s 6th Congressional District has a similar streak, with the area’s six counties voting for a GOP president in the last four presidential cycles.

Out of a 10-person primary field, Trump endorsed Florida’s chief financial officer, Jimmy Patronis, to replace Gaetz. In Waltz’s district, the president threw his support behind state Rep. Randy Fine over two other candidates.

For the Democrats in Florida’s 1st Congressional District, gun control activist and former congressional candidate Gay Valimont is running unopposed. She lost to Gaetz in the 2024 election, receiving only 34% of the vote.

In Florida’s 6th Congressional District, Democrats George Selmont and Josh Weil are vying for the nomination. Selmont launched an unsuccessful bid against Rep. John Rutherford (R-FL) in Florida’s 5th Congressional District in 2018, and Weil is a public school educator.

The next representative for the 1st and 6th districts, however, will not take office until the spring as the general election is set for April 1, putting a strain on House Speaker Mike Johnson’s (R-LA) slim majority until then.

Until replacements are sworn in, Johnson can only afford to lose one vote to pass legislation along party lines, which proved to be a thorn in his side during the last Congress, as hard-line conservatives defected on key policies that forced him to seek Democrats’ help.

Gaetz’s resignation came amid the looming release of a House Ethics Committee investigation into sex trafficking allegations against him. The Florida Republican was also the subject of a separate federal investigation, though the Justice Department declined to charge him. Gaetz has denied all wrongdoing.

There was speculation that Gaetz resigned from Congress to prevent the release of the Ethics Committee’s report, but the committee voted to release the report anyway in a surprise reversal despite arguments from Johnson and other GOP lawmakers that the investigation should be put to rest with Gaetz’s resignation.

Once Gaetz’s and Waltz’s replacements are elected, as well as a successor for Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY), Johnson will hold a two-seat majority with all members seated. That still leaves very little room for error, particularly as Republicans argue holding a GOP trifecta means passing policies without the help of Democrats.

Stefanik was nominated to be Trump’s ambassador to the United Nations, but she has not yet resigned her seat as she awaits a Senate confirmation. Once Stefanik vacates her seat, Gov. Kathy Hochul (D-NY) will need to call a special election within 10 days, and an election is required to happen within 70 to 80 days after that.

On the Republican side, Sticker Mule CEO and political outsider Anthony Constantino will face Republican state Sen. Dan Stec in a bid to win over the local GOP chairs who decide the nominee in the special election. New York’s 21st Congressional District has been reliably red, with the Republican nominee favored to hold the seat.