Meet Gay Valimont
Gay Gillespie Valimont is a mother and gun violence prevention activist in Pensacola, Florida who has devoted her life to improving public safety and strengthening her community.
Gay earned a bachelor’s degree in Health and Exercise Science from Georgia Southern University, her National Athletic Trainers Association accreditation, and her M.A. in Education from Troy State University before pursuing her career in sports medicine in Atlanta.
There, she worked for Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta and later Emory Sports Medicine as an athletic trainer. As Gay built relationships with her players, they told her about their fears around the everyday gun violence some experienced in their neighborhoods. She knew there had to be solutions that could keep her players and community safe and decided then that she could not accept sitting on the sidelines.
During her time in Atlanta, she met her husband, Brian Valimont, and started a family, giving birth to their son Eli in 2012. Together, the family moved to Pensacola for the beaches and strong public schools. While Gay cherished her time as a stay-at-home mother, she felt called to serve after the Sandy Hook School shooting and became involved in gun violence prevention advocacy.
She joined Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America and remained active even when Brian’s job briefly relocated the family to Naples. By 2016, Gay had become a full-time grassroots organizer and rose to serve as Florida State Lead. Under her leadership, Florida’s Moms Demand Action chapter expanded by more than 400 percent, engaging thousands of volunteers and helping push meaningful legislative reforms.
In 2020, Gay faced unimaginable loss. Her husband Brian was diagnosed with ALS, and just months later, their 8-year-old son Eli was diagnosed with DIPG, a rare and terminal brain tumor. Gay served as primary caregiver to both until they passed away within months of one another. She returned to Pensacola, where her family had been happiest, carrying profound grief and an even deeper resolve to make every day count.
In 2024, Gay stepped forward to challenge then-Congressman Matt Gaetz, offering voters in Florida’s 1st District a different kind of leadership rooted in accountability, compassion, and service.
In 2024, Gay stepped forward to challenge then-Congressman Matt Gaetz, offering voters in Florida’s 1st District a different kind of leadership rooted in accountability, compassion, and service. While the district had long leaned heavily Republican, Gay built a grassroots campaign that energized volunteers and began expanding the coalition for change. That campaign laid the foundation for what came next.
When Gaetz resigned in disgrace, triggering a special election in 2025, Gay was ready. In just four months, she built a people-powered campaign that delivered the best performance by any Democratic congressional nominee in the district in more than a century. Her campaign forced a more than 22-point shift and flipped Escambia County blue, marking the largest Democratic special election swing in the country since Trump’s first election.
While she did not win that race, she proved something undeniable: this district is not written in stone. Now, Gay is running again to finish the job.
She believes Northwest Florida deserves leadership grounded in compassion, integrity, and accountability. Leadership that shows up, listens, and fights for public safety, affordable healthcare, strong public schools, and economic opportunity for working families.
This campaign is about building on historic momentum and delivering the representation this community deserves.
There is no time to waste.
Florida's 1st District deserves a full-time leader who lives here, knows our community, and fights for us every single day.
Florida's 1st District deserves a full-time leader who lives here, knows our community, and fights for us every single day. Gay Valimont is that leader.
Our district has a rich culture, but we're facing real challenges: rising costs for food, housing, and insurance that are squeezing working families. We need someone who understands these struggles because they live them too.
Unlike part-time representatives, Gay is rooted here. She's ready to be a full-time voice for the 1st District in Congress.
It's time for locals to take back our leadership. Join the movement!
Members of the U.S. House of Representatives write and vote on federal laws, including the federal budget. Each represents one district and serves a two-year term. Tax bills must start in the House, only the House can impeach federal officials, and members oversee federal agencies through their committees.