A competitive race for the siege of Mike Waltz Hochet des Républicains

Frank Curnow, a retired navy veteran, had a question for volunteers from the Republican Party in an early voting site in Daytona Beach, Florida on Thursday.

Why, he asked, surveys suggesting a tight race for the open seat in its reliable conservative congress district, the Sixth of Florida?

“It’s not good,” said Mr. Curnow, 77, a registered republican who voted for the party candidate, the senator of the Randy Fine state, because “he carries the Trump banner”. The race, he added, “is critical”.

The district voters, who include the section of the coast between St. Augustine and Daytona beach, voted massively for President Trump. But on Tuesday, they will vote in what seems to be an unusually competitive competition to replace the former representative Michael Waltz, who resigned to become Mr. Trump’s national security advisor.

Mr. Fine, who faces Josh Weil, a democratic and public school employee, is still widely favored to win. But with the Republicans clinging to their majority at home by a few seats, it was clear this week that the district voters are thinking about what the outcome of the race – and another race for the siege of the former representative Matt Gaetz in the Panhandle of Florida – could mean for Mr. Trump’s agenda.

“It is important that we garnish the seats,” said Doreen Colby, 74, a registered republican who lives in Daytona Beach. “We want to make sure that Trump can continue to do what he does.”