The Associated Press called the race for Florida Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis at 7:08 p.m. as the results came in Tuesday night.

A slate of congressional hopefuls are vying to win their Florida primaries in special elections to replace two high-profile House Republicans.

Jimmy Patronis, Florida’s chief financial officer, won the Republican primary in the state’s 1st Congressional District, making him a favorite to win the general election for the district’s

Jimmy Patronis receives an overwhelming vote total in Okaloosa and Walton County during Tuesday night's GOP primary. He also won big districtwide.

Florida CFO Jimmy Patronis and state Sen. Randy Fine are projected to win the special primary elections to fill the two vacant House seats in Florida.

Donald Trump’s power to pick political winners in his adopted home state gets another test Tuesday with special election primaries for the seats left vacant by former Republican congressmen Mike Waltz and Matt Gaetz.

Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis will be the Republican nominee in a Special Election to replace U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz. The Panama City Republican emerged as the top vote-getter in a 10-candidate field running in a Special Primary held Tuesday in Florida’s 1st Congressional District.

"I'm happy to announce from the Associated Press that Jimmy Patronis wins the republican nomination." Florida's Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis won the primary race to replace former Florida Representative Matt Gaetz.

Update: Jimmy Patronis and Randy Fine swept their respective primaries in congressional special elections. Patronis had 65.6% of the vote in CD 1 with 65% of the vote counted. There was no Democratic primary so Patronis will face Gay Valimont.

The two candidates will move on to special general elections on April 1, when they will be strongly favored to expand the Republicans’ slim House majority.