Ron DeSantis called hypocritical over rush to fill Republican House seats

Florida governor swiftly scheduled primaries to fill posts from Trump picks while Democratic district waited months

Florida governor Ron DeSantis has been accused of hypocrisy over his rush to fill Republican House seats vacated by Donald Trump’s cabinet picks, as he had previously kept voters in a Democrat-held district waiting for more than nine months.

Critics say his scheduling of 28 January primaries in solid Republican districts held by former congressman Matt Gaetz, who resigned during his ill-fated nomination for attorney general, and Mike Waltz, Trump’s pick for national security adviser, is a hasty political move designed purely to bolster speaker Mike Johnson’s fragile House majority as soon as possible.