There could be as many as six or seven truly competitive House races this year in Florida, and only one potentially competitive district in the state belongs to Democrats: freshman Rep. Tim Mahoney's marginal South Florida seat. But Republicans caught several useful breaks in Tuesday's primary results.
In Mahoney's 16th CD, Pittsburgh Steelers heir Tom Rooney won a narrow victory over two other candidates in the GOP primary. Although his rivals had held elective office, Rooney's status as an outsider and his solid finances made him an attractive pick to many GOP Beltway strategists. Rooney lacks a voting record for Mahoney to pick apart, and of the three primary candidates, he was the most compelling "change" agent. Polling to date shows the moderate Mahoney to be popular with voters, but the underlying Republican nature of this district should make Rooney very competitive. Republicans should be pleased with the match up.
In the Orlando-area 8th CD, four-term GOP Rep. Ric Keller's 53 percent close call against under-funded radio talk show host Todd Long exposed Keller's anemic standing with his base. But,
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