# Randy Fine

Randy Fine (born April 20, 1974) is an American Republican politician, and former gambling industry executive currently serving in the Florida Senate for the 19th district since 2024. He previously served in the Florida House of Representatives from 2016–2024. His district covers southern Brevard County.
Fine is the Republican nominee in the 2025 Florida's 6th congressional district special election.

## Early life and career

Fine was born in a Jewish family in Tucson, Arizona. Fine's father, H. Alan Fine, a graduate of MIT, was a professor of engineering at University of Kentucky. Fine was raised in Lexington, Kentucky, graduating from Henry Clay High School in 1992. He spent his 11th grade year in high school as a page in the U.S. House of Representatives. During the summers of 1991 and 1992, he was an assistant for Robert Dornan.
Fine is a graduate of Harvard University, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts in government and an MBA. While an undergraduate, he was active in student politics, and was accused of election and financial improprieties.
Before entering politics, Fine worked as an executive for casino gambling companies such as Harrah's Entertainment and American Casino & Entertainment Properties. For nearly ten years, he operated a Nevada-based consulting business for the casino industry, called the Fine Point Group. In 2009, he was the chief executive of the Greektown Casino in Detroit. In 2015, Fine explored a United States Senate bid.

## Florida Legislature
### Florida House of Representatives
#### Elections

Fine has won four elections in Florida's 53rd and 33rd House of Representatives districts. In 2016, Fine and David Kearns (Democrat) competed for the seat being vacated by John Tobia, who vacated the spot due to term limits. In 2018 and 2020 Fine was the incumbent, and he was challenged by Democrat Phil Moore in both elections. Following redistricting, Fine ran in the 33rd district in 2022, defeating Democrat Anthony Yantz.

#### Tenure

In the state house, Fine advocated for protecting the environment of the Indian River Lagoon from sewage spills, and for opposing what he saw as wasteful, lower-priority spending. Fine introduced a bill in the House to provide up to $50 million per year in matching funds to upgrade sewage treatment facilities in the area of the marsh. The legislation also increased the fines for illegal sewage discharges. Despite his crusade against sewage spills, in 2019 he voted for HB 829 which made it illegal for local communities to ban the spreading of biosolids (dried sewage) on farmlands that drain into the St. John's River and The Indian River Lagoon. The practice of spreading dried human feces as fertilizer on farms around the St. John's River has been linked to toxic algae blooms affecting Melbourne's drinking water supply.
The editorial board of local newspaper Florida Today has criticized Fine's personal style. Their joint editorial observed that "Fine is obviously a hard working lawmaker who has used his watchdog skills to do good" but said that "Fine should defend what he believes in, but not by launching tirades against others as crusades on behalf of his constituents. He can look good without trying to make others look bad with personal attacks." There are multiple cases of Fine using "threats to pull or withhold state funding...to strike back at political rivals and retaliate over perceived slights." These include the Brevard Zoo (2023), a Palm Bay Magnet High School firefighter academy (2022), and the West Melbourne Special Olympics (2021). In April 2023, the Florida Commission on Ethics found probable cause he violated ethics rules by threatening to withhold state funding over a personal dispute and interfering in a council member's request for public records. In October 2024, Judge Blaue held Fine in contempt of court for making obscene gestures during his hearing over an election paperwork dispute. Fine was ordered to take a 8-hour anger management course

#### Reedy Creek Improvement District

In 2022, Fine sponsored a bill that would dissolve any independent special district in Florida established prior to November 5, 1968, including the Reedy Creek Improvement District (RCID). The bill passed both the Florida House of Representatives and the Florida State Senate, and was signed into law by Governor Ron DeSantis on April 22, 2022. Many political commentators said that the potential dissolution was in retaliation for the Walt Disney Company announcing its opposition to the Parental Rights in Education Act, dubbed the "Don't Say Gay Bill" by its critics, that passed several weeks prior. In an interview, Fine said that research into the RCID and other special districts started "When Disney kicked the hornet's nest several weeks ago." When the potential impact on taxes in the surrounding counties of Orange and Osceola was being discussed, Fine claimed, without providing evidence, that the taxpayers would save money, and the tax revenue would instead go to local governments. Neither county is part of Fine's district.

### Florida Senate

On November 5, 2024, Fine was elected to the Florida Senate from the 19th district, which includes Cape Canaveral and the majority Brevard County. He was officially sworn into office on November 19, 2024.
Due to Florida's resign-to-run law, after announcing his candidacy for Congress, Fine submitted his resignation from the Florida Senate effective March 31, 2025.

## U.S. House of Representatives
### 2025 U.S House campaign

Upon the re-election of Donald Trump as President of the United States, Congressman Michael Waltz was announced as the next United States National Security Advisor. Waltz announced his resignation from the U.S. House of Representatives effective January 20, 2025, triggering a special election in Florida's 6th congressional district. On November 26, 2024, Fine declared his candidacy for the United States Congress and was endorsed by President-elect Donald Trump, Senator Rick Scott, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, and House Majority Whip Tom Emmer.
On the day of his announcement, he posted on X (formerly Twitter) that "the Hebrew Hammer was coming" and that Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar "might consider leaving before I get there. #BombsAway". He had previously used this hashtag to call for violence in the Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip and Lebanon, and Haaretz in its reporting deemed the announcement a threat.
Fine has repeatedly labeled his Democratic opponent, Josh Weil, as "Jihad Josh" and called for his arrest after a staffer on Weil's campaign was arrested on burglary and theft charges.

## Political views
### COVID-19 response

At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, Fine asked for local leaders in Brevard County to take the pandemic more seriously. Fine thought it was "a little bit crazy" that Brevard beaches were open to anybody. Fine urged for people to get vaccinated. He opposed making the COVID-19 vaccine mandatory, but he encouraged for those who are not vaccinated to follow the CDC's recommendation and wear a mask in group settings. Fine recommended for parents who want mask mandates at school to use the state's school voucher system and send their child to a private school with a mask requirement.

### Israel and Palestine

In 2018, Fine demanded that venues in Miami and Tampa cancel scheduled concerts with the New Zealand singer Lorde because she had previously cancelled a concert in Israel after being urged to do so by activists from the BDS movement. According to Fine, letting Lorde play would violate an anti-BDS law that the state enacted in 2016. The concerts went on as scheduled.
In April 2019, Fine called Paul Halpern, a Jewish constituent of his, a "Judenrat" for supporting an event that discussed the Israeli-Palestinian situation. Halpern stated, "That's the worst thing anyone can say to me. I'm someone who’s been a victim of anti-Semitism much of my life, and there’s no worse name you can call a Jewish person than 'Judenrat.' It tells me about the character of the person who said it, especially since he doesn’t know me."
In May 2021, amid the ongoing crisis in Israel and Palestine, Fine made several derogatory posts and comments on his Facebook and Twitter pages regarding Palestinians, including a celebration of the Israeli army's bombing of the Gaza Strip. Regarding the deaths of Palestinian children during the 2021 conflict, he said, "I don’t personally feel bad when human shields are killed.
In October 2023, Fine switched his endorsement in the 2024 Republican Party presidential primaries from Ron DeSantis to Donald Trump over the 2023 Israel–Hamas war.
On October 10, 2023, Fine arranged for "Regards from Randy Fine" to be written on an artillery shell to be fired on Gaza, and later arranged for messages on two more shells.
In November 2023, Fine voted against a Florida House of Representatives resolution calling for a ceasefire in the ongoing Israel-Hamas war introduced by Angie Nixon, asserting that anyone who voted for the resolution was anti-Semitic and "putting every Jewish child in the state at risk."
In May 2024, Fine called the United Nations a "terrorist organization."
Fine called Ireland an "antisemitic country" after it recognized the State of Palestine in May 2024. He pledged to introduce a bill to ban Florida government entities from contracting with Irish, Norwegian, and Spanish companies, after the latter two countries also recognized Palestine. When Governor Ron DeSantis visited Ireland in August 2024 to attend the Florida State–Georgia Tech football game, Fine criticized the governor, saying, "I was certainly disappointed to see not only folks go to what is clearly an antisemitic country that supports Muslim terror, but I was also disappointed that the game wasn’t cancelled, which it should have been."
Following the killing of Turkish-American citizen Ayşenur Ezgi Eygi by the Israel Defense Forces in September 2024, Fine tweeted "Throw rocks, get shot. One less #MuslimTerrorist. #FireAway," drawing calls by the Council on American–Islamic Relations for the legislature to censure Fine.
In December 2024, Fine introduced a bill to the Florida Senate which would ban "flags with a political viewpoint" from being flown in Florida government buildings, defined as the flag of Palestine, LGBTQ pride flags, and Black Lives Matter flags. In a press release, he called Palestine a "fictional country," referred to the Black Lives Matter movement as "pro-violence," and repeatedly promoted the LGBTQ grooming conspiracy theory, writing, "Supporters of Muslim terror, child mutilators, and groomers have no right to taxpayer sponsorship of their repugnant messages."
Fine planned to move to Israel along with his family had Kamala Harris won the 2024 United States presidential election.
After the remains of the kidnapped Bibas family were returned to Israel in February 2025, Fine claimed in a series of tweets that there was no such thing as innocent Palestinian civilians, called them "demons that live on Earth" who "deserve death," and claimed that "Gaza must be destroyed." The Council on American–Islamic Relations repeated its calls for Fine to be censured in response.

### Opposition to LGBT community

Fine has repeatedly made unsubstantiated allegations that gay and lesbian people are "grooming" minors and has publicly spoken in favor of "erasing" the LGBT community. He supported the Parental Rights in Education Act, dubbed the "Don't Say Gay Bill" by its critics, that banned classroom instruction about sex education topics in schools.
In April 2021, Fine was one of 77 Republicans in the House to vote yes on bill CS/HB 1475 which bars transgender girls and women from playing on girls' sports teams at public schools.
Fine proposed a bill to ban drag performances where children might be in attendance. Opponents of the bill note it would ban his own wife's "sultry performances" at the Spring Forward for Autism gala, an event to benefit a children's charity. NBC News reported that video of previous years' galas, where his wife performed, confirmed that toddlers were in attendance, and Business Insider reported that in previous years children performed alongside adults at the galas. In 2023, the gala included a performances by Rainbow Circus Miami, and Randy Fine was one of the gala's prominent sponsors.

### Opposition to Muslims

Fine has a long history of making anti-Muslim statements. After the 2025 New Orleans truck attack, which was committed by an American-born convert to Islam, Fine called for non-citizen supporters of "Muslim terror," which he tied to pro-Palestinian protests on university campuses, to be deported. He claimed on Twitter that America has a "Muslim problem." Trump ally, Richard Grenell, criticized Fine's anti-Muslim post and said his post was not helping.

### Gun rights

Fine proposed a bill which would legalize concealed carry on college and university campuses. Fine said of the bill that, "Adults should have the right to protect themselves on campus, particularly after so many universities across America chose to protect Muslim terror advocates over their own students".

## Personal life

Fine married his first wife, Anne Price, in 1996. They met while working for Students for an Energy Efficient Environment Inc.
In 2007, with his second wife Wendy, he purchased a 4,000 square foot home in Melbourne Beach, to which they added 4,500 square feet at a cost of $1,000,000. In 2023, his wife Wendy was accused of sexually suggestive dancing in the presence of children, according to a report by NBC News. The accusation occurred at a Spring Forward for Autism non-profit gala in Melbourne, Florida.