Democrat Gay Valimont announced Monday that she is running for Congress in Florida’s 1st District, opening a new campaign against Republican U.S. Rep. Jimmy Patronis in one of the state’s most reliably conservative seats.
Valimont, a Gulf Breeze-area Democrat who has previously run for the seat, is seeking a return match after losing last year’s special election to Patronis. She also challenged former U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz in the 2024 general election. The new campaign marks her third bid for the northwest Florida district.
Valimont has framed her campaign around affordability and local issues, including insurance costs, healthcare access and veterans’ services. Her campaign website says she supports establishing a full-service VA hospital in the region and describes her as a mother, community advocate and resident of Florida’s 1st District.
“In Congress, I’ll focus on lowering costs, expanding healthcare access, and delivering the full-service VA hospital our veterans need,” she said in her campaign announcement.
Florida’s 1st Congressional District covers much of the Panhandle and has long favored Republicans. Still, Valimont’s 2025 special-election performance drew attention because Patronis won by a narrower margin than President Donald Trump posted in the district in the 2024 election.