SHARE:
Election 2016
Purple state, high stakes for Florida
Florida House of Representatives
The Bottom Line
There are nearly two dozen current members of the state House running for seats this year in the state Senate — meaning plenty of turnover in the Legislature’s lower chamber, too. But Republicans command a much stronger majority in the 120-member House (81-39), and lawmakers weren’t forced to change the state House boundaries.
Altogether, there are only about 10 competitive general election House races around the state and, even in the best-case scenario for Democrats, they are unlikely to tip the scale in the House too far. As is often the case, some of the most important House elections are primaries, where several races pit business-backed candidates against others financed by trial lawyers.
Some primaries will have an outsized impact on the race to become House Speaker after the 2022 elections. Three people are currently seen as the leading contenders for that post: Rep. Paul Renner (R-Palm Coast), whose candidacy is being promoted by the Jacksonville business community; Rep. Jamie Grant (R-Tampa), a close friend and political ally of incoming House Speaker Richard Corcoran; and Randy Fine, a Melbourne Beach businessman running for a seat in Brevard County. (Renner and Grant were elected early in out-of-cycle special elections.)
