Matt Gaetz wins reelection to US House in Florida's 1st Congressional District

PENSACOLA, Fla. — U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz has won reelection in Florida's First Congressional District.

Gaetz easily defeated Democratic challenger Gay Valimont on Tuesday. As of 8:30 p.m. ET, Gaetz had 66.3% of the votes while Valimont had 33.7%

Gaetz didn’t spend much time campaigning in Northwest Florida after defeating his Republican challenger, Aaron Dimmock, in August. Gaetz ran an aggressive campaign against Dimmock for the primary but has essentially ignored Valimont’s challenge since then.

Valimont is a former Florida leader in the Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America and campaigned against Gaetz, arguing he does not care about Northwest Florida residents.

“We’ve seen more headlines about his controversies than his contributions,” Valimont said in one campaign advertisement.

Valimont also slammed Gaetz for being under an active ethics investigation by the House Ethics Committee. Valimont knew she was facing a tough campaign and told the USA TODAY Florida Network last week that she knew the change would not come overnight.

"I believe that as Americans, we have to come to the table and make an effort to identify and fix a problem," Valimont said. "Matt Gaetz is never, never going to come to the table.”

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Florida election: Matt Gaetz wins U.S. House reelection