Gay Valimont

Gay Valimont is the Democratic nominee for Florida's 1st Congressional District and a former athletic trainer who worked in sports medicine in Atlanta.[1][2] She became a gun violence prevention activist in Florida and has run for the seat in 2024, in the 2025 special election, and now in 2026.[2][1] She lists affordable living and healthcare, veterans, and voting rights as key campaign messages.[2]

Valimont was born in Thomaston, Georgia, and, according to her Ballotpedia survey, was raised there.[2] She earned a bachelor's degree in health and exercise science from Georgia Southern University in 1996 and a master's in education from Troy State University.[2]

Valimont began a career in sports medicine in Atlanta, working with predominantly Black high schools and the Atlanta Falcons, according to her 2026 survey; her 2024 survey adds that she worked as an athletic trainer for Children's Healthcare of Atlanta and Emory Sports Medicine.[2] According to her 2024 survey, she then moved to Pensacola with her family and became a stay-at-home mother, and she joined Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America after the Sandy Hook shooting, becoming a full-time grassroots activist and Florida state lead by 2016.[2]

Her 2024 survey states that her husband and young son both died of illnesses after diagnoses in 2020, an experience she cites as shaping her focus on health care access and affordability, and that she then returned to Pensacola.[2] Valimont was the Democratic nominee in 2024, losing to incumbent Matt Gaetz, 274,108 votes to 140,980, and the Democratic nominee in the April 1, 2025 special election, losing to Jimmy Patronis, 56.9% to 42.3%.[2] She advanced to the 2026 general election after the August 18, 2026 Democratic primary was canceled.[1][2]

Researched from the cited sources on 2026-10-21.