Matt Gaetz ousted Speaker Kevin McCarthy and his voters in Florida are thrilled: NPR

With the historic vote in the House of Representatives that removed Speaker Kevin McCarthy from the House’s top post, one particular Republican came to national attention for his role as a congressional disruptor: Representative Matt Gaetz of Florida.

After leading a group of radical Republicans who fought against funding the government and criticized McCarthy for the compromise he made to prevent a government shutdown, Gaetz made a motion to step down, a procedural motion that Can remove the speaker from that post.

But after the vote and despite sharp criticism from his fellow Republicans, Gaetz remained defiant.

“I think this represents band-aid looting and this is what we have to do to get back on track,” he told reporters in front of the Capitol shortly after the vote on Tuesday.

It’s a position that is not widely shared in his party, but in his congressional district in northwest Florida, it’s an entirely different story.

Matt Gaetz has been making political waves in Florida for a long time. The son of a former Florida Senate president, he was first elected to the Florida legislature 13 years ago at the age of 31. Then, in 2016, he ran for a congressional seat — and won.

However, even before that, he was establishing himself as a self-described ‘firebrand’, which is also the title of his 2020 autobiography.

Florida Democratic Party Chairwoman Nikki Fried remembers a time when a young, high-school student was already stirring things up. As a college student, she helped run a debate tournament in which Gaetz participated.

“And he was actually thrown out of our student congress for being abusive, for being disruptive, for getting his point across,” she recalled. “So unfortunately, these patterns are who Matt Gaetz is.”

It appears that his constituents have no objection to the old style of politics. Gaetz’s congressional district, on Florida’s Panhandle, is one of the most Republican in the state. Since joining the Congress for the first time, he has won re-election easily every time. Still, some conservative Republicans in her district, like Renee Johnmeyer, say they had begun to think Gaetz was all talk and no action.

“I felt like it was a lot of word service,” Johnmayer said, recalling his congressional tenure in Congress, “that he was just saying things and not getting things done.”

Johnmayer, right in the middle of Gaetz’s district, is active in the Santa Rosa County Republican Party. At a local restaurant for a club meeting, she expresses her doubts about him, but says that his actions this week have given her a lot of goodwill with him.

“I’m glad to see him actually step forward and do something that will take the party in a different direction,” he said.

This sentiment echoed throughout the meeting.

“I had mixed feelings before this happened,” Sharon Hawthorne, another local Republican Party member, said of Gaetz. “I liked some of the things he did. I didn’t like other things he did. But I liked the fact that he took this stance for us.”

“And I think it’s the best thing that could have happened for Republicans, for Democrats and for America,” Hawthorne said.

His own brand of Republican politics

Gaetz is no stranger to national media attention, though he has often made headlines as a troll on Democrats, such as when he criticized Democrats on the House floor during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic and public health concerns. Wore a gas mask. measures.

Gaetz also led the effort to breach the secure facility where impeachment proceedings against former President Donald Trump took place during his first impeachment.

This changed at the beginning of the 118th Congress when Gaetz ran against Kevin McCarthy in his initial bid for the Speakership. Ultimately, McCarthy survived 15 rounds of voting before receiving enough votes to become speaker. Gaetz didn’t vote for him even once.

Gaetz, an ally and supporter of Trump, strongly aligned himself with the former president during his time in office and has remained close to him ever since.

That style of politics plays well in today’s GOP, according to Adam Caton, a political scientist at the University of West Florida.

,[Gaetz is] Combative, bombastic, conservative, doesn’t shy away from very public conflict,” Keaton explained. “So, he’s tapping into the same spirit that is propelling Donald Trump to the leadership of the Republican Party.”

Yet, back home, Gaetz’s constituents who cheered his actions aren’t sure it will actually pay off for him — or for them.

Patty Burke said, “It might have been a risk to them. I’m glad they did it. In my view, the more Congress does nothing, the better off Americans will be.” She has been a local in GOP politics for more than 20 years and has followed Gaetz’s career.

But, he worries that the Republican Party may now be seen as a disorganized party. Another Republican at the Santa Rosa County meeting, George Oedsma, is less concerned about his party and more about the Democrats still having control in Washington.

Oedsma said, “For many years Republicans have always told us that we have to compromise. But whenever we do, we get nothing and they get everything they want.” “It seems like this again and again.”

As for whether Gaetz’s actions will pay off?

He said, “Ask me a year from now and I’ll probably be able to tell you.”

So what now?

Gaetz did not fire McCarthy with the intention of taking the job. He has made it clear that he has no interest in becoming the speaker. It is unlikely that he will have the votes to serve as the polarizing figure in his party that he has become.

The House must choose its new leader before conducting any additional legislative business. But despite a proposed 45-day extension to give Congress more time to fund the government, a potential shutdown is again looming.

Gaetz is unlikely to deviate from his stance on a conservative approach to government funding. Florida’s 1st congressional district has more federal employees than any other district in the state and is home to several military installations, which accounts for even more federal spending.

For retired Marine Stan Zandura, who is also attending the Santa Rosa County Republican Party meeting, it shouldn’t even be considered. He supports Gaetz’s strategy on government spending and ousting McCarthy.

“It’s a shutdown colloquially. It’s not a real shutdown,” Zandura said. “Government employees will get their checks even after reopening. So, who gets harmed by this? It harms the political parties present there.”

Whatever Gaetz might do with his new notoriety, he’s unlikely to face opposition at home in his heavily-Republican district, nor will he face a primary challenge because a moderate Republican probably wouldn’t fare as well. .

There is speculation that Gaetz may be eyeing the gubernatorial mansion in Tallahassee, Florida, although he has said he has “no plans” to run for governor. Still, that election won’t take place until 2026, and there’s precedent for a candidate like Gaetz to perform well statewide.

Adam Caton, a political scientist at the University of West Florida, speaking about former three-term Governor Ron DeSantis, said, “It’s worth remembering that our most recent governor was a Tea Party-affiliated right-wing Republican, who had a brand of anti-establishment ” Congressman.

For now, however, Gaetz seems focused on changing Congress. because as He recently tweeted“I know who I work for, and it’s not the people of Washington, D.C.”

“It is Americans who elected me to Congress to bring about change for the better,” Gaetz said.