TALLAHASSEE, FL (WTXL) -- Running in newly drawn districts, Florida Democrats in 2012 won a fiercely contested state Senate race, toppled a future House speaker and picked up legislative seats in the Tampa Bay and Orlando areas.
Now, Republicans are trying to strike back.
The top legislative races in 2014 are in many of the same districts that Democrats captured two years ago. And in a couple of cases, they even involve the same candidates.
Perhaps the most talked-about race this year involves a rematch of Sen. Maria Sachs, D-Delray Beach, and former Sen. Ellyn Bogdanoff, R-Fort Lauderdale, in Senate District 34 in Broward and Palm Beach counties. Millions of dollars flooded into the district in 2012 when Sachs defeated Bogdanoff, after the two were drawn into the same district through the once-a-decade reapportionment process.
Sachs enjoys an edge because registered Democrats outnumber Republicans in the district. But a critical question is which voters will turn out in the mid-term election.
In an interview this week with The News Service of Florida, Sachs said Democratic voters are motivated to hold onto the seat in the Republican-dominated Senate.
"I think that a lot of folks here are upset about the way the way that Florida's been run,'' Sachs said. "They want a two-party government. They want a system in Tallahassee that will respect the high number of Democrats in the state. And they know that if they lose this seat, they're going to lose a Democrat."
But in a separate interview, Bogdanoff said the race is not about party affiliation.
"The issues that I work on most of the time are not partisan issues,'' Bogdanoff said. "And bringing money and benefits back to the district are not partisan issues. But clearly as a Republican, being in the majority, I'm in a better position to do that. There's actually a benefit to the constituents."
While the Sachs-Bogdanoff race is being closely watched in Tallahassee and South Florida, most of the legislative action in the Nov. 4 elections will happen in House races.
Republicans, for example, are trying to win back Seminole County's House District 29, which Rep. Mike Clelland, D-Lake Mary, narrowly won in 2012. The win was a major upset because Clelland beat incumbent Republican Chris Dorworth, who was penciled in as a future House speaker.
Clelland's campaign benefited from ethical questions that dogged Dorworth. But this year, the GOP is trying to recapture the seat by running former state Rep. Scott Plakon, a Longwood Republican who lost in a neighboring district in 2012 after the reapportionment process.
While Republicans have controlled the House since 1996, they would be able to hold a two-thirds majority if they can pick up a net increase of five seats this year. That is important for procedural reasons, including giving Republicans a veto-proof majority in the House --- which could become an issue if Democrat Charlie Crist is elected governor.
Some of the most-competitive House races are in the Tampa Bay area, including a rematch in District 63, where Tampa Democrat Mark Danish unseated Republican Rep. Shawn Harrison in a close race in 2012.
In another high-profile race, Republican Bill Young, son of the late Congressman C.W. Bill Young, is trying to defeat freshman Rep. Dwight Dudley, D-St. Petersburg, in Pinellas County's District 68. A little north of that district, Republican Chris Sprowls is trying to knock off freshman Rep. Carl Zimmermann, D-Palm Harbor, in District 65.
But competitive races also are scattered in other parts of the state. For example, freshman Rep. Jose Javier Rodriguez, D-Miami, faces a well-funded challenger, Republican Daniel Diaz Levya, in Miami-Dade County's House District 112.
News Service of Florida reporter Margie Menzel contributed to this story.
