Who is Josh Weil? Florida teacher, self-described 'proud progressive' facing heat from Democrats

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There’s an interesting special election developing in northeast Florida between a seasoned Republican politician and a Democratic school teacher from the Orlando area.

The race is heating up for the congressional district seat left open after Mike Waltz was tapped by Donald Trump to be the president's national security adviser.

Florida state Sen. Randy Fine, backed by Trump, is running for the seat. And Fine’s opponent, Josh Weil, is gaining national attention this week for some of the ads his campaign has run without the consent of the Democratic Party leaders that they feature clips of – all while trying to flip a red seat blue.

Here’s what to know about the April special election for Florida’s next 6th Congressional District representative and why Democratic candidate Josh Weil is being mentioned alongside U.S. Rep. Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez, David Hogg and Shabooozey this week.

Who is Florida state Sen. Randy Fine running against? Florida House election to fill Mike Waltz’s seat is next month

On Jan. 28, 2025, Republican Florida state Sen. Randy Fine and Florida teacher Josh Weil, a Democrat, won their special primary elections to run in the special general election for the U.S. House of Representatives, representing Florida’s 6th Congressional District.

Florida’s 6th Congressional District seat was left open by Mike Waltz, who held the seat from 2019 through this year. He was re-elected for his seat in November 2024, but left it vacant when Trump selected him to be the 29th National Security Adviser in January. Before Waltz, now-second-term Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis held this seat.

Fine – who served four terms in the Florida House of Representatives before being elected to the state’s Senate – nabbed the Republican nomination for his special primary election after gaining Trump’s support. Trump encouraged him to run in the Congressional District race, although he lives in Brevard County (which is not included in Florida’s 6th Congressional District). 

"RUN, RANDY, RUN!" Trump said in a November post to Truth Social.

Fine’s opponent, Democratic candidate Josh Weil, is what some voters would consider a “regular person.” Weil is not a career politician and calls himself a “proud progressive” who champions the “the thousands of Floridians who believe in the power of regular people over partisan political games.”

Congress election: Volusia GOP official alleges Josh Weil mailed made-up Randy Fine quote

Who is Josh Weil? Democratic candidate running in Florida’s 6th Congressional District

Weil is a 40-year-old teacher from Orlando who teaches at two Osceola County Public Schools. He teaches math and is an instructional coach at New Beginnings Education Center and Kissimmee Middle School.

According to BallotPedia, Weil was born in New York and earned bachelor's degrees from Stony Brook University and Northwood University in 2009 and 2011, before moving to Florida to earn his master’s in 2013. He's affiliated with the Islamic Center of Orlando, the Florida Education Association, the Florida LGBTQ+ Democratic Caucus, and Progressives for Democracy in America — Florida Chapter.

He holds a master's degree in teaching from the University of Central Florida in Orlando and a specialist of education certificate from Stetson University in DeLand. He's also a divorced father to two boys, but told the Daytona Beach News-Journal in December that he's fully dedicated to his campaign.

“He made a bid for the Senate before dropping out just prior to qualifying in 2022, when then-U.S. Rep. Val Demings went on to challenge Marco Rubio, the incumbent,” The News-Journal reported in December.

“Weil will be among the longest of longshots in a district that was 49% Republican and 26% Democrat going into the Nov. 5 election. Donald Trump won with more than 60% in each of the six counties that make up the 6th District.”

"I’m not running against Mike Waltz, who is their chosen representative time after time," Weil told The News-Journal.  "I’m running against Randy Fine, who is someone they have never elected or voted on, who is someone they have never sat back and said, ‘This is our guy.’"

Randy Fine has some major benefits in this race. Fine is backed by Trump and Weil, a newcomer, is Democrat running for a seat that has been red for more than a decade.

But Weil told The News-Journal in December that he thinks a lot of voters who cast their votes for Trump are displeased with the way the administration is heading.

“Weil's theory is that there are two groups of dissatisfied voters: Democrats and those who voted for Republicans who didn't bargain on the direction Trump has taken with his transition,” The News-Journal reported.

Last week, Fine spoke up about his opponent after keeping fairly quiet for the majority of their campaigns for the same seat. He attacked Weil’s embrace of the Islamic religion and accused him of violence.

“Fine, who is Jewish and has a history of comments the Council on American-Islamic Relations, has (been) called ‘anti-Muslim,’ (and) linked Weil's embrace of Islam with a 2015 case where Weil – a teacher – was suspended for three days for misconduct after a student accused Weil of ‘slamming’ him to the ground,” The News Journal reported on March 12.

“In the manner of President Donald Trump, whose endorsement largely cleared the GOP primary field for him, Fine labeled his opponent as ‘Jihad Josh Weil’ and said in addition to the 2015 physical encounter with a student, Weil has supported ‘Muslim terror.’”

Fine V. Weil: Randy Fine attacks Josh Weil's embrace of Islam in congressional election

Florida’s Josh Weil, Shaboozey, AOC and David Hogg: What to know about Weil gaining celebrity, Democratic party attention

This week, Weil has garnered negative attention from the likes of U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D, New York) and David Hogg, political activist, March for our Lives co-founder and vice chair of the Democratic National Committee. Both Ocasio-Cortez and Hogg have criticized the tactics that Weil’s campaign videos have used to gain attention for the congressional race.

Weil and Gay Valimont, a Democrat running in a different longshot race in Florida’s 1st Congressional District, both employ Key Lime Strategies to raise funds for their campaign.

Hogg has accused campaign manager Jackson McMillan of Key Lime Strategies of running political ads that mention him without his consent, calling McMillan and consultants like him “the problem in (the Democratic) party.”

“I had to send a cease and desist to their fundraising consultant @JacksonOfFL because they did the same to me,” Hogg wrote in a March 15 post on X (formerly Twitter). 

“Worst part of this is he's taking a 25% cut of all the money raised on this. The campaign hasn't been approving this type of content – it's this consultant who's running this without anyone's consent. People like Jackson McMillan are the exact type of consultants who people say are the problem in our party.”

Hogg’s post piggybacked on a tweet from Ocasio-Cortez, that said Weil’s campaign used a video clip of her without her consent. The video clip is of her talking about the importance of Florida’s special elections.

“Fyi this is being run as an ad without my consent. I'm not personally involved in any races right now,” Ocasio-Cortez posted on X on March 15.

And rap-rock-country fusion artist and “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” singer Shaboozey has now been thrown in the mix of people who were viewed as involved in Weil’s campaign by some voters, but are not. 

It was rumored that Shaboozey would join Atlanta-based rapper Killer Mike on stage at a congressional town hall in DeLand on Wednesday, March 19. But that was just a rumor, according to a spokesman for the city of DeLand.

“Chris Graham, a spokesman for the City of DeLand, which runs the Sanborn Center, said the campaign booked the venue for Wednesday, not Thursday,” The News-Journal reported this week. “He also said when he asked about Shaboozey, the campaign said it was a ‘rumor.’ ”

More: Shaboozey not joining Killer Mike to support Democratic congressional candidate in DeLand

2025 special election in Florida: When to vote

The special general election between Republican and Democratic candidates Randy Fine and Josh Weil will be held on Tuesday, April 1.

Early voting for most counties in the congressional district, including Volusia County, will start this weekend and end on the Saturday before the election. 

Check your county’s supervisor of elections website to find where and when you can vote early or check your assigned polling place for the day of the election.

Here are the early voting times for each county in the district election:

• Volusia: Saturday, March 22 - Saturday, March 29, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
• St. Johns:  Saturday, March 22 - Saturday, March 29, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.  
• Marion: Saturday, March 22 - Saturday, March 29, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
• Lake: Saturday, March 22 - Saturday, March 29, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
• Flagler: Saturday, March 22 - Saturday, March 29, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
• Putnam: Saturday, March 22 - Saturday, March 29, 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

What counties are in Florida Congressional District 6

These are the counties included in Florida’s 6th Congressional District and links to each Supervisor of Elections website:

• Northern Volusia County 
• Southern St. Johns County
• Eastern Marion County
• Northern Lake County
• All of Flagler County
• All of Putnam County

Contributing: Mark Harper, The Daytona Beach News-Journal

(This story was updated to add early voting times for each county in Florida's 6th Congressional District.)