Stick around the ultra-slim-suited and oddly shiny lawyers who have ridden MAGA momentum into power long enough and you'll notice an archetype. Ivy League-educated sons of the silver-spooned stand tall behind lecterns in GOP-controlled legislatures throughout the United States, pressing their weight down into their Loro Pianas and claiming to speak for the working class. The Josh Hawleys and Ted Cruzes of the world are all unrepentant strivers, sweating out a concentrated dose of naked ambition that stains the armpits of their tailored shirts a sickly yellow-green and keeps regular people at a respectable distance. Still, even this glossy set of petty tyrants can recognize a creep and a phony in their ranks, sussing which one of their ilk is showing off their veneers for a half-second too long. Matt Gaetz faced the consequences for being one such nauseating twerp. In a sane world, Randy Fine would have, too. The Floridian state senator won a seat in the House of Representatives on Tuesday, taking the place of current National Security Adviser Mike Waltz. The win helped the GOP hold on to their slim majority in the lower chamber. If you think they're happy about it, you don't know Fine. The politician from Palm Bay has made a name for himself over nearly a decade in the Florida legislature, lending his name to some of the most controversial state laws in recent memory. He was a co-sponsor of the act restricting educators from discussing LGBTQ+ topics in schools, known nationwide as the "Don't Say Gay" bill. He's repeatedly said that the United States has a "Muslim problem." He's moved to ban drag shows in the state. But that's all par for the course in conservative Florida politics. Fine's tarnished rep in the Sunshine State comes back to the way he has carried himself in office. As a state rep and senator, Fine has made more news for the way he speaks to people than the bills he's passed. In texts shared by Florida Today in 2022, Fine called a school board member a "whore" and threatened Special Olympics funding over a lack of an invitation to a fundraiser at a local Chick-Fil-A. "Jenkins just put your project and Special Olympics funding on the veto list," Fine wrote to West Melbourne City Councilman John Dittmore. "I'm not going to jack s**t where that whore is at." In 2019, Fine called a Jewish constituent who supported Palestinians a "Judenrat," a term for Jewish Nazi collaborators. Fine was held in contempt of court and ordered to attend anger management courses late last year after he made obscene gestures at a judge. It's easy to see how Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis came to oppose someone so uncouth. The Yalie glad-hander with a legendary pained half-smile campaigned heavily against Fine in the days leading up to the special election, even as he knew it was useless. He said that Fine would no doubt win the election thanks to the imprimatur of the Republican Party. “It’s almost impossible for someone with an ‘R’ by their name to lose that district. So I would anticipate (the) Republican candidate is still going to be successful. Do I think that they will get even close to the margins that that I received or President Trump received? No," he said. "Is that a reflection on the president? Absolutely not. It’s a reflection of the candidate that’s running in that race.” DeSantis was correct, as Fine bested Democrat Josh Weil by 14 points. An endorsement from Trump all but sealed the deal. But who knows how long Fine will be able to hold his place in D.C.? For any of this representative democracy stuff to work, it has to mean something when GOP politicians look up from nibbling on the scraps of the president's long-forgotten past grievances and say, "I smell a rat."