In taking on one of his House GOP archrivals, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) picked a proxy fight against former President Donald Trump and House Republican leadership.
Gaetz fell just short.
In a rural Illinois congressional district, the Florida congressman campaigned for Darren Bailey, the hard-right challenger to incumbent Rep. Mike Bost (R-IL), in Tuesday’s primary.
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Losing by just a few thousand votes and with most ballots counted, Bailey called Bost to concede the race on election night, according to the congressman's campaign. (The Associated Press had not called the race by Wednesday morning.
The victory all but ensures Bost will earn another term representing this deeply conservative district. The close margins of the race, however, are notable. The fact that Bost had Trump's endorsement and a huge financial advantage, but only won narrowly, will send a message to the others Gaetz has endorsed against or plans to endorse against—they’re not fully safe.
Still, defeat will likely be bitter for Gaetz: When tensions were high following the ouster of Kevin McCarthy last year, Bost allegedly threatened to punch out the Florida congressman during a private meeting, a reflection of widespread GOP outrage over his plotting.
Despite Gaetz’s vendetta, Trump and House leaders endorsed Bost, giving him a clear edge over Bailey, who was blown out in his campaign for Illinois governor in 2022.
And despite Gaetz and MAGA media’s insistence that Bost was a RINO, or “Republican In Name Only,” voters clearly did not buy it on Tuesday. The incumbent had been a loyal ally to Trump, voting to throw out the electoral votes of states Joe Biden won in 2020, and endorsing the former president’s 2024 campaign.
Still, Bost’s victory is a blow toward Gaetz’s project of importing more America First-style populists to the House GOP. The Florida congressman has endorsed against another incumbent, Rep. Tony Gonzalez (R-TX), and has backed candidates for open primary races.
Notably, Gaetz previously endorsed Rep. Matt Rosendale (R-MT) for the U.S. Senate race in Montana, going against Trump and Senate leadership, who favored former Navy SEAL Tim Sheehy.
But Rosendale—who also voted to remove McCarthy—dropped out of the Senate race in February, less than a week after getting in. He announced he would be running for re-election to his House seat, but that too fell through in March when he opted instead to retire, citing personal attacks.
Bost, who was a close ally of McCarthy, has won a small blow against the congressman most responsible for the former speaker’s removal.
During a closed door conference meeting that unfolded after McCarthy was booted, Bost raged at Gaetz, according to a source familiar, and appeared to lunge at him from across the room.
Prior to election day, Bost said Gaetz’s effort to remove him from the ballot was nothing more than an ego trip.
“What that is is all about your own ego, and that’s the problem,” Bost told The Daily Beast. “And they find like people that think like they do, and then try to drag them up against somebody that doesn’t think like they do.”
