Special Elections Two special elections were held on September 26th to fill a Senate and a House seat. In Senate District 40, Annette Taddeo (D-Miami) defeated former Republican House member Jose Felix Diaz. Taddeo replaces former Senator Frank Artiles (R-Miami) who resigned on April 21st. In House District 116, Republican Daniel Anthony Perez (R-Miami) beat Democrat Gabriela Mayaudon. Perez replaces Jose Felix Diaz (R-Miami).
On October 10th, Republican Bobby Olszewski defeated Democrat Eduardo “Eddy” Dominguez in the special general election for House District 44, replacing Eric Eisnaugle (R-Orlando). Republican Lawrence McClure won the primary election for House District 58 and will face Democrat Jose Vazquez, Libertarian Bryan Zemina and no-party candidate Ahmad Hussam Saadaldin on December 19th in the general election to replace Dan Raulerson (R-Plant City), who resigned over the summer. On December 5th, there will be a primary election for House District 72 to fill a void left by the summer resignation of Alex Miller (R-Sarasota). That general election will be held on February 13, 2018.
Senate and House Committees House Speaker Richard Corcoran and Senate President Joe Negron announced changes to last year’s committee assignments and anticipate further changes after the upcoming special election results. To see a full list of all the committee memberships, go here for House committees and here for Senate.