The 2025 Florida's 1st congressional district special election was held on April 1, 2025, to fill a vacant seat in previously occupied by Matt Gaetz, who resigned on November 13, 2024, after president-elect Donald Trump nominated him for attorney general of the United States. Gaetz later withdrew his nomination for attorney general on November 21. The following day, Gaetz announced he would not return to Congress. He had been reelected for a sixth term earlier in the month, but declined to take his seat. It was considered a safe Republican district.
The election was held alongside a concurrent special election for . The race was called for Patronis almost immediately after polls closed. Despite Patronis' victory, Democrats significantly improved their margins in this election, overperforming their 2024 result by 17.4 percentage points and flipping Escambia County, Valimont's home county and home to Pensacola. Valimont became the first Democrat running for this district to win the county since Earl Hutto in 1992. This is the strongest Democratic performance in this district during the 21st century.
The takes in the westernmost area of the Florida panhandle, encompassing Escambia, Santa Rosa, and Okaloosa counties, as well as about half of Walton County. A significant portion of the district's population are servicemen and women of the U.S. military, due in large part to the Naval Air Station near Pensacola and the nearby commuter towns of Navarre and Fort Walton Beach.
The district was given a Cook Partisan Voting Index rating of R+19 in 2022, making it the most Republican district in Florida. In the 2024 presidential election, Donald Trump won the district with 68.1%, while then-incumbent Gaetz was re-elected with 66.0% of the vote in 2024.