Recount 2008: The Florida House

Drama-starved Floridians have two House races to watch as they head into likely recount:

• House District 9, where Democrat Michelle Rehwinkel Vasilinda had a small advantage over Republican Peter Boulware.
• House District 11, where Democrat Debbie Boyd had a similar leg up on Republican Elizabeth Porter.

No matter the outcome, the House, which had been 77-43 before Tuesday, will remain largely the same. Democrats may have squandered a major opportunity, unable to tap the anti-Republican sentiment that touched so many other contests across the United States.

House Republicans who were considered vulnerable, like Peter Nehr of Tarpon Springs and Carl Domino of Jupiter, held on last night. Some, like Rep. Ellyn Bogdanoff of Fort Lauderdale, posted huge numbers.

Democrats did pick up Gayle Harrell's old seat, HD 81, with an Adam Fetterman win. And Ds reclaimed HD 10 with a Leonard Bembry win in Will Kendrick's old seat. But they gave up the Brevard County district that had been held by Tony Sasso.

So if all holds, it will be a 76-44 House. Democrats note that they posted gains for a second consecutive cycle and say "dozens" of competitive districts will open in 2010.

*

Comments

They are going to really miss Dan Gelber.

Not a great night for Florida House, but they continue to outshine Senate Victory. No progress at all in that office.

No progress? Keeping 26 seats is a huge accomplishment. Congress and the Florida House both lost ground. It is hard to imagine taking any seats from the 14 Democrats in the Senate, except maybe Charlie Justice. All of the others are safely Democratic. Heck, with the way Pinellas went last night, Justice has to be feeling pretty safe too.

Going after a Rehwinkel in Tallahassee in an election? Forget it! Not a snowball's chance in hell.

Just one seat? just one? LOL- that is weak- House Campaigns miss Steve Shale

Did the Dem not have anyone working on these while Shale was ignoring people while working for the Obama campaign?

Republicans are obviously doing a good job for the people of Florida!

The question is when will RPOF begin to make progress again? They have a net loss of 10 seats since 2006. When will the bleeding stop?

[Louis]

Repubs are doing a great job in Florida...riiiight.

What happened to the great Democrat hope Johnny Mac?

I don't think that voting for other democrats translated well during this election in Florida. The tides turned in local legislatures overwhelmingly and Florida's democratic house and senate are a dark spot today in state legislatures and assemblies. I am originally from North Carolina and there were huge upsets because voting for democrats translated.

Let's face it, Florida remains a backwater, a bastion of civil war racism and irresponsibility toward our natural environment. South Florida (and Pinellas) offer hope for a brighter future, but really they contribute the lipstick while the rest of the state remains all pig.

When the only competitive seats are Republican strongholds, hard to make progress.

2000 taught us that D's don't do well in recounts.

As for Johnny Mac...did anyone actually think he was going to win? Brad Drake not only ran a good campaign but one that was respectful and he really reached out. He seems more political and that area needs some economic growth the kind that will not come from someone unless they know how to play the game and wear a suit.

competitive in 2010? Yea all of them are competitive in 2010, but if they are meaning because of term limits of course there are competitive seats because they already have them.

Johnny Mac did not have a campaign.

[Bob]

The districts are rigged.

We need redistricting reform.

any district that requires a house member to travel to 6 counties is rigged!

The D's predicted taking 10 seats...they failed miserably. In this environment...for the Rs to hang on to so many seat in the House and Senate...it is a huge victory for Republicans...not withstanding the Presidential results...in fact, in spite of them...

10:36
I agree with you. They thought they could get 10 seats and have been bragging about it. I think that where democrats go wrong is that they don't know HOW to organize. They are not expected to be a good as David Plouffe, but some simple things just really fell of this year. There is also a lot of hubris. No one wants to be taught, they want to come in with this "I already know" attitude and its shows.

who predicted 10 seats??

Republican House and Senate Leadership: Well done! In this environment, the results are incredible.

its a repeat cycle for the Democrats in the House. They go from strong leadership to weak leadership
Miller-strong
Frankel-weak
Wiles-weakest
Smith-weak
Gelber-strongest
Sands-time will tell but right now, weak

Republicans choose strong leadership everytime!

Who is Miller?

Back to the topic at hand...I don't know about the other race, but I want Peter to win!

shale predicted 10 seats

isnt' Tally a democratic city? How did it get that close?

Peter Boulware was an all-star FSU football player that is looked up upon by the community.

11:10 Peter Boulware was a hero in Tallahassee. He played football for FSU during the years that FSU dominated College Football. He also, is African American. And Tally has a high percentage of African Americans and is also home to FAMU. But, it wasn't enough to put a Republican over the top in a Democraitic Dominated County.

Tallahassee/Leon County has never elected a Democrat to either the State House or Senate. Nor have we given a majority to any Republican in Statewide or National elections. Quite the contrary is the case. Usually a Democratic Candidate wins Tallahassee with around 70%.

Tallahassee also had the states highest percentage of voters turnout in Tuesdays election. With 85% turnout!

[Kaitee]

The D's not taking more seats is because of Sands. He is weak and refused to help the right candidates. The D's are in trouble with him as their leader. Now we know he is worthless with elections, and will be even worse with policy.

Mr. Ryan should resign.

[Broward Voter]

The races in Broward were very interesting. On the Republican side, Atwater, Bogdanoff and Hasner won big and on the Democratic side, Kiar won by a large landslide.