Florida Democrats field candidates for nearly every state legislative seat
Twenty-seven of 142 state Legislature races on this November’s ballot are already over and Democrats won 21.
Those races began and ended at noon Friday when only one candidate filed the required paperwork to run in 25 of 120 House elections, and in two of 22 Senate races, before the state’s qualifying deadline expired.
The remaining 115 legislative seats up for grabs in August primaries and November’s general election will feature at least two major-party candidates; 95 are for House representative, and 20 are for Senate seats.
In addition, a record 20 gubernatorial candidates formally filed for governor – eight Republicans, seven Democrats, a Reform Party candidate and four with no party affiliation – while seven people announced their intent to run for state agriculture commissioner and five looking to succeed Attorney General Pam Bondi.
During the 2018 legislative session, the GOP had a 23-16 Senate advantage, with one seat vacant, and a 76-41 House majority, with three seats vacant.
House Republicans' 2018 election goal is to regain the 80-seat veto-override super majority it lost in 2016.
But they face obstacles: Only six of 50 GOP incumbents seeking re-election are running unopposed, compared to 29 in 2016; and, of 20 House lawmakers being “term-limited” from the chamber at year’s end, 17 are Republicans.
A Democratic effort to field candidates to challenge in elections statewide also appears to have paid dividends.
According to the Florida Democratic Party, there are Democrat candidates challenging for all 20 Senate, and more than 100 House, seats on the ballot, unlike 2016 when nine GOP senators and 29 House representatives were elected without Democratic opposition.
The state’s Division of Elections confirms the trend, noting that while one-fifth of the Legislature’s 2018 elections are uncontested, that is significantly less than 55 of 120 House races that were uncontested in 2016.
There will be women candidates for 82 of about 175 state elected positions on November’s ballot, the Division of Elections also reported.
https://www.watchdog.org/florida/democrats-candidate-surge-could-stress-republican-control-of-legislature/article_410ebbc2-7960-11e8-a7e4-e31c26965769.html
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Way to go Florida!
