OCALA, Fla. — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Wednesday said Republicans won Florida’s 6th Congressional District despite having a poor candidate in Randy Fine, crediting an intervention from Pres. Donald Trump on the victory. 

Trump and DeSantis won District 6 by 30-plus point margins in 2022 and 2024, making Fine’s 14-point victory over Democrat Josh Weil look narrow in comparison. Weil raised nine times as much as Fine — that’s $9 million for Weil, $1 million for Fine.

The disparity appeared to be pushing Fine toward drastic measures: he said last week he put $600,000 of his own money into his campaign. Republicans, who now hold a 220-213 margin in the U.S. House, began to campaign in support of Fine when the race began to look competitive.

Ultimately, Fine defeated Weil 56.7% to 42.7%. After asked about Fine’s victory on Wednesday, DeSantis appeared ready to get ahead of any narrative that the (comparatively) narrow margin of victory for Fine was a referendum on Trump. He says, instead, it was a referendum on Fine who he says “repels people.” 

“And just the way he conducts himself, he repels people,” the governor said. “He’s repelled people in the legislature. They wanted to get him out of the legislature, so they asked me to put him up for Florida Atlantic (FAU) president, and I did, and the whole board would’ve resigned rather than make him president, and so now he’s going to be in congress– I mean, like, it is what it is.” 

DeSantis said voters don’t like Fine, and “took one for the team” voting for him. He also called him “a squish” and pointed out he lives over 100 miles away from the district he will now represent. 

Fine himself credited Trump with his victory, writing on social media, “Because of you, Mr. President. I won’t let you down.” 

Fine also posted about the governor’s comments on his victory, reposting a clip from DeSantis’ speech Wednesday in Ocala. 

“A dying star burns hottest before it fades into oblivion,” he wrote. “I’m focused on working with @realDonaldTrump to stop Democrats from taking this country backwards, not working with them. Let’s go.” 

DeSantis and Fine’s contentious relationship dates back to when Fine switched his endorsement in the 2024 presidential primary away from the Florida governor to Trump, accusing DeSantis of not doing enough to combat antisemitism.