The post With qualifying days away, 5 competitive House seats remain unchallenged appeared first on Florida Politics – Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government..
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Less than a week from the qualifying deadline, 25 Florida House district races remain uncontested by one of the two major political parties.
That means each race has either only Democrats or Republicans running, with, in some cases, a third-party challenger with little to no shot of winning.
That arrangement is understandable in 80% of those contests, where one party has such an edge with the electorate that, for now, running candidates to flip those seats would be a waste of money and resources.
But in five House districts (two Republican-controlled, three Democrat-led), the voter divide is narrow enough that the absence of a challenger from the opposing party is eye-raising at best and confounding at worst.
They range from a district in Palm Beach County that sided with Kamala Harris in 2024 by just 1 percentage point, based on 2024 state presidential vote analyses by Matt Isbell of MCI Maps, to an Orange County district Harris won by 11 points.
That’s roughly the same margin by which President Donald Trump won in House District 87, which Jupiter Democratic Rep. Emily Gregory flipped in a national news-making March upset that has bolstered hopes of further such returns in November.
The other three races — set in Duval, Miami-Dade and Pinellas counties — have even smaller divides between Democrats and GOP voters. Yet none are contested.
Of four uncontested Senate races, just one — SD 36 in Miami-Dade County — is remotely close. Incumbent Republican Sen. Ileana Garcia is on track to win the seat she won in 2020 by 34 votes and kept two years later by 18 points.
Voters there picked Trump over Harris by a 16-point margin.
In a statement to Florida Politics, the Florida Democratic Party said that despite the gaps in winnable races, the organization has worked hard to identify “strong, quality candidates up and down the ballot who are willing to work hard for Floridians and create a state where we can all thrive.”
“The Florida Democratic Party (FDP) has spent the last several years investing in year-round organizing, and a part of that is candidate recruitment,” the group said. “Floridians across the state have raised their hand to run, with over 1,300 Democrats expressing a desire to learn more about running over the last 18 months.”
Republican Party of Florida Chair Evan Power, meanwhile, expressed confidence that his group will further grow its already supermajority share of the Legislature and threw shade across the aisle.
“Just like last year when (FDP Chair) Nikki Fried was worried about giving out participation trophies in every race, the Florida GOP remains focused on winning races. We know we will field quality candidates across Florida that will drive us to big victories,” he said in a statement. “The Florida Democrats are on the verge of extinction. Floridians have rejected the radical left agenda and we are confident that we will be on offense.”
The Primary Election is on Aug. 18, followed by the General Election.
Here are the House Districts with candidates from only one of the two major political parties running, as of Friday.
House District 12 — Republican-controlled
HD 12, which covers part of Jacksonville’s Westside and Southside, crossing the St. Johns River, went 10 points for Trump in 2024. Republican Wyman Duggan, the district’s current Representative, must leave office in November due to term limits, and former Jacksonville City Council President Terrance Freeman is running to keep it in GOP hands.
He’s the only person in the race.
Image via MCI Maps. Click to enlarge.
House District 44 — Democrat-controlled
HD 44, which spans portions of Orange County, including Orlando and parts of the unincorporated areas of Hunters Creek, Meadow Woods, Sky Lake and Southchase, is a D+11 district, based on MCI Maps figures.
Democratic Rep. Rita Harris is seeking her third consecutive term in the district and, so far, no one is blocking her path to an easy re-election.
Harris, first elected in 2022, has yet to face a Republican on the ballot. Her only opponent in the past two cycles was former state Rep. Diasy Morales, whom she unseated by about 8.5 points and repelled with a whopping 65% share of the votes in a 2024 rematch.
House District 60 — Democrat-controlled
HD 60, a D+7 district, is getting a new Representative after incumbent Rep. Lindsay Cross announced that she will not seek re-election this year. The district covers a bay-facing portion of Pinellas County that includes parts of St. Petersburg and Pinellas Park, along with the communities of Feather Sound and Lealman and the neighborhood of Grande Bayou.
Lawyer Lindsay Polega-Quigley, a former Vice President of the St. Petersburg chapter of the League of Women Voters, filed to run for the seat within hours of Cross’ withdrawal and is thus far unopposed.
House District 89 — Democrat-controlled
In what would be the closest contest, if anyone else were to run, Democratic Rep. Debra Tendrich enjoys an unobstructed path to re-election in HD 89, a D+1 district that spans part of inland Palm Beach County, including Greenacres, Lake Clarke Shores, Lake Worth Beach and Palm Springs.
Tendrich, a nonprofit executive, won the seat in 2024 by a 2-point margin, keeping the seat previously held by Democrat David Silvers.
House District 114 — Republican-controlled
An R+10 district, HD 114 covers parts of Miami-Dade, including Coral Gables, Miami, Palmetto Bay, Pinecrest, South Miami and West Miami.
Republican Rep. Demi Busatta has held the seat since 2020, when its prior Democratic occupant, South Miami Mayor Javier Fernández, left for an unsuccessful Senate bid.
Busatta has proven popular among voters in past races, winning re-election in 2022 by almost 13 points and again in 2024 by 17 points after dwarfing her Democratic opponents in fundraising.
Other unchallenged races
There are 23 other uncontested state legislative races, including:
— Senate District 16 (D+26), which covers part of the Tampa Bay area including Hillsborough and Pinellas counties. House Democratic Leader Fentrice Driskell and Democratic Rep. Michele Rayner are the only two candidates.
— Senate District 32 (D+39), an inland Broward County area that includes Fort Lauderdale, Lauderdale Lakes, Lauderhill, North Lauderdale, Oakland Park, Plantation, Sunrise and Tamarac. Incumbent Sen. Rosalind Osgood currently faces one opponent, no-party candidate Crescente Furnaguera.
— Senate District 34 (D+39), which covers parts of north Miami-Dade, including Bay Harbour Islands, Miami Beach, Miami Gardens, North Miami, North Miami Beach and Opa-locka. The district’s current representative, Democratic Sen. Shevrin Jones, is leaving to run for Congress, and just one candidate, Miami Democratic Rep. Ashley Gantt, has filed to succeed him.
— House District 7 (R+54), which covers a large Panhandle area including Dixie, Franklin, Gulf, Hamilton, Lafayette, Liberty, Suwannee and Wakulla counties, and a southern portion of Leon County. Incumbent Republican Rep. Jason Shoaf faces no opposition.
— House District 8 (D+42), which spans all of Gadsden County and part of Leon County. Incumbent Democratic Rep. Gallop Franklin faces Independent Party of Florida candidate Aaron Ruddell.
— House District 13 (D+24), which covers a northeast portion of Duval County. The all-Democrat field includes former Sen. Audrey Gibson and candidates Brandon Groover, Leslie Jean-Bart and Christopher Thomas.
— House District 14 (D+25.5), which covers part of Duval County. Incumbent Democratic Rep. Kimberly Daniels faces two Primary challengers: Elgin Foreman and Rhian Tutson.
— House District 24 (R+28), which covers a southeast portion of Marion County. Incumbent Republican Rep. Ryan Chamberlin faces Primary challenger Scott Wilkins.
— House District 27 (R+37), which spans parts of Lake, Marion and Volusia counties. Republican Rep. Richard Gentry is unopposed in his re-election bid.
— House District 40 (D+35), which covers an unincorporated swath of Orange County, including the Riverside Acres neighborhood and census-designated areas of Lockhart, Pine Hills and Rosemont. Incumbent Democratic Rep. Ra’Shon Young is unopposed.
— House District 56 (R+27.5), which covers a coastal stretch of Pasco County encompassing New Port Richey and the census-designated areas of Bayonet Point, Beacon Square, Elfers, Jasmine Estates and Holiday. Incumbent Republican Rep. Brad Yeager has no opponent.
— House District 62 (D+34), which covers part of Pinellas County, including St. Petersburg, and a portion of Hillsborough County, including Tampa
