Scott ally wins GOP primary for open Dunn House seat in Florida
The Hill · C · trust 64/100
Comments: by Max Rego - 08/18/26 8:14 PM ET Comments: Link copied by Max Rego - 08/18/26 8:14 PM ET Comments: Link copied NOW PLAYING Former Capitol Hill staffer Austin Rogers is projected to win the Republican primary in Florida’s 2nd Congressional District, according to Decision Desk HQ.
Rogers, who was Sen. Rick Scott’s (R-Fla.) general counsel from June 2025 until February, defeated a crowded GOP field en route to the nomination in the battle to succeed retiring GOP Rep. Neal Dunn (Fla.).
Dunn, a member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, announced his impending departure from Congress in January. The 73-year-old is in his fifth term representing the 2nd District, which encompasses the eastern part of the Florida Panhandle and includes the state capital of Tallahassee.
Rogers is the clear favorite in the general election, as Dunn won by more than 20 points in all but one of his five victories from 2016 through 2024.
President Trump also won the 2nd District — left unaltered by the congressional map GOP lawmakers in the Florida Legislature redrew earlier this year — by 18 points in 2024, according to The Downballot .
Election handicapper Cook Political Report rates the seat as solidly Republican — making it one of 17 in the Sunshine State with that distinction.
Prior to his time in Scott’s office, Rogers was a legal staffer at the Senate Judiciary Committee’s civil unit for more than two years, working as senior counsel and then chief counsel of the panel’s civil unit.
Rogers also clerked for U.S. District Judge Steven Merryday in the Middle District of Florida from 2019-2021, after he graduated from the Duke University School of Law.
On the campaign trail, Rogers has aligned himself closely with Trump, calling him the “most consequential” president of his lifetime and vowing to implement the administration’s agenda.
As of July 29, Rogers had loaned his campaign $375,000 since he launched his House bid in January, according to the Federal Election Commission (FEC). Rogers had roughly $387,000 on hand as of late last month, he reported to the FEC.
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