Matt Gaetz is Santa Rosa County's newest voice in the Florida House of Representatives.

The 27-year-old Fort Walton Beach attorney won the Special Election for the District 4 seat in the House of Representatives recently vacated by Ray Sansom.

Gaetz, the Republican candidate, secured 10,118 votes between Okaloosa and Santa Rosa counties - or 66 percent. Democratic nominee Jan Fernald of Navarre had 5,212 votes - or 34 percent.

"I'm excited. Navarre came through huge for me," Gaetz said at his celebration party at Pranzo's on Okaloosa Island where he had gathered with family and friends. "I think it speaks to the hunger of Santa Rosa County residents for a genuine, conservative leadership."

Gaetz is scheduled to be sworn in on Thursday, April 15. Alongside his father, Sen. Don Gaetz, R-Niceville, the two will serve as the first father-son team in the Florida Legislature.

"I think Northwest Florida will benefit from having a cohesive delegation representing them," Gaetz said, "a senator and a representative who share many of the same values and ideas."

Though he will only have two weeks remaining in the current legislative session, newly elected Gaetz already has plans to revive the stalled legislation permitting a lawsuit prohibiting "Obamacare."