Josh Weil a strong challenger to Randy Fine in Florida special election

On Tuesday, April 1, voters in Florida's reliably Republican Congressional District 6 will vote in a special election to replace former Congressman Michael Waltz, who was re-elected with 66.5% of the vote last year before getting tapped to be President Donald Trump's new national security advisor. One would think the Republican candidate, just-re-elected state Sen. Randy Fine, could basically walk in and hang his hat.

However, Democrat and Orlando schoolteacher Josh Weil has been surprisingly strong, outraising veteran legislator Fine by 10-1. A recent St. Pete Polls survey found Fine leading Weil by just four percentage points, well within the poll's margin of error and shocking in a district composed of counties that went at least 60% for Trump. Weil could potentially flip the red seat blue, a major deal when the balance of the House is razor thin.

Fine — who served four terms in the Florida House of Representatives before being elected to the state’s Senate — nabbed the Republican nomination for his special primary election after gaining Trump’s support. Trump encouraged him to run in the Congressional District race, although Fine lives in Brevard County (which is not included in that district).

Although Weil drew heat after his campaign consultants ran ads using videos of U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D, New York) and David Hogg, political activist, March for our Lives co-founder and vice chair of the Democratic National Committee, without their permission, he has been endorsed by U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, The Orlando Sentinel and hip-hop star Killer Mike.

Here's what to know as you head to the polls.

Weil, 40, was born in East Meadow, New York, raised by a single mother, and worked at a Chick-fil-A during high school. He earned bachelor's degrees from Stony Brook University in 2009 and Northwood University in 2011, a master's degree from the University of Central Florida in 2013 and a specialist of education certificate from Stetson University.

Weil has been a public school educator since 2012 and is a math teacher and instructional coach at New Beginnings Education Center and Kissimmee Middle School. He previously ran for the Senate in 2022 but dropped out before qualifying when then-U.S. Rep. Val Demings went on to challenge incumbent Marco Rubio.

At a primary debate in January, Weil said his mother was a born-again Christian but he was raised without a "default faith." In his 20s, he said found God outside of organized religion. In 2010, Weil married a Muslim woman from New York and he worked to help her find Muslim communities in Central Florida

"And the more time we spent there, the better relationship, the deeper relationship I got, I got a deep appreciation for the beauty of Islam and the message of the Quran," he said. He declared his belief that there is no god but God and that Muhammad is God's messenger the following year.

"It gave me opportunities to be of service in the community doing tremendous outreach with the Islamic Center of Orlando."

Weil has since divorced and said he has not visited a mosque since, but said his two sons David and Alexander consider themselves to be Muslim.

Orlando. Weil does not live in District 6, but neither does Fine, who lives in Melbourne Beach.

Fine has accused Weil, whom he referred to as "Jihad Josh Weil," of "physically assaulting and stalking a female teacher." Weil was suspended for three days in 2015 for misconduct after a student accused Weil of "slamming" him to the ground,” The Daytona Beach News Journal reported on March 12.

Weil was also arrested on Jan. 26, 2024, Brevard County on a charge of driving while having a suspended/revoked/canceled license, but it was later dropped.

Fine, who is Jewish, has criticized Weil for his religious beliefs and for using Democratic Party’s ActBlue PAC and fundraising platform, which he said was “under investigation for laundering Islamic terror money.”

Weil has campaigned in favor of education and against the Trump administration's moves to dramatically downsize the federal government.

"Government is a "sacred trust," he said at a primary debate, adding: “I believe elective office is a public service, and not a business opportunity. In contrast, my opponent (Fine) and his Republican buddies in Congress think government is a business whose purpose is to minimize public services and profit off of we the people.”

He also spoke against the threat against the country's checks and balances, and how embarassing it was that more Democrats were not standing up in opposition. “We don’t do kings here,” he said.

Last December, Weil told The Daytona Beach News-Journal that there were two groups of dissatisfied voters, Dems, and Republicans and Independents who didn't realize what Trump would do once he regained power.

“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."

Weil's main focus topics are public school education, housing affordability, health care and protecting Social Security.

District 6 includes all of Flagler and Putnam and portions of Volusia, St. Johns, Marion and Lake counties.

The special elections for the two congressional seats and primaries for three state legislature seats are Tuesday, April 1.

Contributing: Mark Harper, The Daytona Beach News-Journal