Will Furry Drops Out of Congressional Race; Instead Announces for School Board Re-Election

Flagler School Board member Will Furry is dropping his bid for the U.S. House of Representatives, a spokesperson announced on Monday. Subsequently, Furry will be seeking re-election to the School Board in the 2026 election. Furry was one of three major Republican candidates mounting a primary challenge to incumbent Congressman Randy Fine for Florida's 6th congressional district seat. Fine was elected in a special election last year following Michael Waltz's resignation to serve in the Trump administration. The decision for Furry to mount a congressional run was announced in August, seemingly opening the District 2 seat to challengers in 2026. As of Monday, no candidates have filed for that seat - Furry included - despite the early indications there'd be no incumbent. Fellow School Board member Christy Chong has filed for re-election in District 4, as has challenger Ron Long. Furry was recently voted vice chair of the Flagler School Board on the 104th vote in November. The Board, currently down one member, remained in a 2-2 stalemate between Furry and Lauren Ramirez until 2:53 am, when Ramirez at last conceded. In the congressional race, Palm Coast City Council member Charles Gambaro is still in the race to unseat Fine in August's Republican primary. Lake County's Aaron Baker is also filed. On the Democratic side, the race includes Ronnie Murchinson-Rivera, James Stockton, and Eric Yonce. Several other candidates have filed but have yet to launch active campaigns. As of the most recent campaign finance reports, Will Furry was showing numbers well behind his three major Republican competitors. Randy Fine has reported $3,203,693.50, far outpacing Charles Gambaro's $215,250. Aaron Baker is next with $53,572.90, followed by Furry at $38,657. Despite these fundraising numbers, Furry stated in his announcement that it was Florida's potential upcoming redistricting that fueled his decision to drop out. "There are many unknowns as to where final lines will be drawn," Furry said. "It is clear to me that it is more advantageous for a proven Republican to run for a seat I know we can keep red and protect our public schools from the radical left." Governor Ron DeSantis is currently pushing for a redrawing of Florida's congressional district maps mid-decade. The boundaries are typically redrawn only after each U.S. census to account for new data, but DeSantis and the Republican-controlled state legislature are moving forward with plans to expedite the process after Texas and California have done so in efforts to tip the political makeup of the House of Representatives. Florida GOP leaders have said their proposal does not have partisan gerrymandering in mind.