Rep. Matt Gaetz, who led the effort to throw out Speaker Kevin McCarthy, is facing a primary challenger likely recruited by Mr. McCarthy in his quest to take out the faction of eight House GOP lawmakers who voted to remove him more than six months ago.
Former Naval aviator Aaron Dimmock filed on Friday to run as a Republican in Florida’s 1st congressional district seat, according to the Florida Division of Elections.
He’ll face Mr. Gaetz, Florida Republican, in the state’s GOP primary on Aug. 20.
Mr. Dimmock did not respond to a request for a comment about his candidacy or whether Mr. McCarthy directly recruited him.
In a post on X, Mr. Gaetz highlighted Mr. Dimmock‘s past social media posts in which he voiced support for the efforts of Black Lives Matter.
He called Mr. Dimmock “the BLM supporting DEI instructor running against me in the Republican Primary,” and said, “I knew former Representative McCarthy would be getting a puppet of his to run. I didn’t know it would be a Woke Toby Flenderson!”
Toby Flenderson is the fictional HR representative on “The Office” television series.
Mr. McCarthy, California Republican, resigned from Congress in December. He has reportedly been on a quest to defeat the eight lawmakers who voted with all Democrats to remove him from the speaker’s chair last October.
His top target is Mr. Gaetz, who instigated the coup by filing the arcane motion on the House floor that resulted in a vote in favor of Mr. McCarthy’s ouster.
At the time, Mr. Gaetz said he sought to remove Mr. McCarthy because he believed the GOP leader had capitulated to Democrats on the Republican priorities of reining in government spending and securing the border.
Mr. McCarthy said he believes Mr. Gaetz was motivated by revenge because Mr. McCarthy would not “stop an ethics complaint” into sexual misconduct allegations against Mr. Gaetz, which included sexual relations with a minor. Mr. Gaetz denies the allegations.
The former speaker has also targeted Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina, another lawmaker who voted to oust him. Mr. McCarthy helped recruit attorney Catherine Templeton to run against her in the June 11 GOP primary.
Ms. Mace called Ms. Templeton a hand-picked puppet of the D.C. establishment in a campaign fundraising plea.
“Kevin McCarthy just can’t help himself as I am living rent free in his head,” she said.
Mr. Gaetz has represented the Sunshine State’s 1st District, which spans the state’s western panhandle, since 2017. He won reelection by 68% in 2022 and beat back primary challenger Mark Lombardo by a vote of 70% to 24%.
Mr. Dimmock’s professional social media page lists him as the director of the Missouri Leadership Academy based in Jefferson City.
He filed for candidacy just ahead of the state’s deadline and is Mr. Gaetz’s only primary challenger.
• Susan Ferrechio can be reached at sferrechio@washingtontimes.com.
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