Randy Fine beats Dan Bilzerian as another Jewish incumbent wins primary

Jewish far-right firebrand Rep. Randy Fine secured a landslide victory in his Florida GOP primary on Tuesday, ending a race marked by antisemitic tropes, allusions to Adolf Hitler and sharp criticism of Islam. 

The Associated Press called the race in just under an hour after polls closed, at 7:53 p.m., when Fine secured 56.7% of the votes, with 69% of votes counted. His main opponent, mega-influencer Dan Bilzerian, had accrued 18% of the votes by that time.

Fine, who is currently serving his first term in Congress, was endorsed by US President Donald Trump, the Republican Jewish Coalition and the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC).

However, he has sparked anger in Congress on both sides of the aisle for comments disparaging Muslims, including comparing them to dogs, and saying that Gazans should “starve away” until the Israeli hostages were released.

Bilzerian, an influencer who has spread conspiracy theories about Jews, has previously said that he wants to “kill Israelis” and described his opponent as a “fat Jew.” After Bilzerian declared his candidacy this past spring, the founder of TMZ asked the influencer if his usage of the phrase was antisemitic.

Bilzerian invoked Hitler in campaign remarks

In response, Bilzerian questioned whether remarks made by Fine earlier this year “about how Muslims are lower than dogs,” which drew bipartisan criticism, were Islamophobic.

“District 6 understands the Jewish problem,” Bilzerian posted on X/Twitter on Saturday, following up the next day with a message that “the Jew is scared.” A recent Bilzerian campaign music video referenced Adolf Hitler in a positive light, featuring the lyrics, “Should we revisit that Austrian painter’s opinions?” 

Fine, meanwhile, told Fox News Digital on Tuesday that Bilzerian is “an open Nazi who transported himself from Las Vegas to Florida in order to target me.” 

“This isn’t an organic campaign,” he added. “It’s an organized pogrom against the Jews.”

The primary had been marked by inflammatory rhetoric and personal attacks. Fine responded to Bilzerian’s entry into the race by declaring that “we don’t want Armenians to be able to serve in Congress” (Bilzerian is Armenian), prompting anger from Armenian-American groups.

Last week a Fine campaign sign was defaced with a swastika, an act condemned by the Anti-Defamation League and other Jewish groups. In a release, Fine accused Bilzerian’s supporters of having painted the swastika, a charge Bilzerian has denied and labeled “the most jew move of all time.”

Jewish incumbent favorite to win in November

South Florida Democrat Rep. Lois Frankel defeated outsider Victoria Doyle in a Democratic primary race on Tuesday, positioning the longstanding Jewish candidate for a likely victory this November.

The Associated Press called the race less than an hour after polls closed, at 7:41pm, when Frankel secured 75% of the votes, with 92% of votes counted. Doyle had accrued 23.1% of the votes by this time.

Frankel faced a serious challenge from Doyle on the campaign trail, particularly after a statewide reshuffling of districts ended up reshaping local constituencies.

President Donald Trump had pushed for GOP governors to reshape voting boundaries, in a bid to strengthen the Republican party’s grasp on Capitol Hill. Responding in Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis and state legislators opted to merge multiple Democratic districts.

Prior to the redistricting, Frankel was serving constituents from Delray to West Palm Beach in the state’s 22nd District. But the revamped District 22, which is expected to turn red, will instead stretch from Palm Beach County to Marco Island on the Gulf Coast.

Frankel, who has been in Congress since 2013, opted to run in a reshaped 23rd District, which includes parts of Broward County and southern Palm Beach County.

Israel and AIPAC were not major points of contention between Frankel and Doyle, whose priorities focus on affordability, women’s rights and immigration reforms.

Frankel, however, is a staunch supporter of Israel who has promised “continued security assistance to Israel and robust funding for Israel’s missile defense capabilities.” Pro-Israel PACs have spent about $861,000 backing her over the course of her career, according to Track AIPAC.

“The major focus of our campaign is the need to get big money out of politics,” the Victoria Doyle for Congress campaign told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency in an emailed statement, prior to the primary. 

Accusing her opponent of taking “millions of dollars in special interest, corporate, big donor, and PAC money” and calling out AIPAC as Frankel’s biggest donor, the campaign stressed that Doyle “takes no PAC or special interest money, and runs a scrappy grassroots campaign centered on voters rather than donors.”

“For a while Frankel supporters attempted to label Victoria as ‘antisemitic,’ but the attack was laughably crude and unbelievable, seen more as Frankel’s desperation and being out of touch with the new district than anything else,” the statement added.