Many competitive congressional races will be on Fla. ballots

By BRENDAN FARRINGTON

AP Political Writer

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. --

Florida may not have any statewide elected offices on the ballot this year, but it will have plenty of competitive congressional races.

The races were set Friday after qualifying for the ballot closed at noon. The only incumbent among Florida's 25 Congress members not seeking re-election is Rep. Dave Weldon. Many others are facing challenges as Republicans and Democrats continue to battle over control of the U.S. House. Florida has 16 Republicans and 9 Democrats there.

Among the notable races: Democrat Christine Jennings will seek a rematch with Rep. Vern Buchanan for the Sarasota-area seat he won by 369 votes two years ago and Democratic Rep. Tim Mahoney will have to defend the seat he won after Republican Rep. Mark Foley resigned in shame.

Also, Republican Rep. Tom Feeney will face a strong challenge for the seat he carved out for himself six years ago and three South Florida Republicans will have to defend seats in races that could test whether political attitudes are shifting among Cuban-Americans.

Democrats are buoyed by their success in picking up two Republican seats in 2006. They are also hoping to provide strong competition for Republican Reps. Ric Keller and Gus Bilirakis while Republicans hope they can make freshman Democratic Rep. Ron Klein work to keep his job.

Democrats are being much more ambitious this year, with at least seven Republicans on their target list, as well as the seat Weldon is giving up.

"They're hunting with a shotgun when they probably ought to be hunting with a rifle this year," said Oklahoma Rep. Tom Cole, who chairs the National Republican Congressional Committee.

His counterpart at the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, Maryland Rep. Chris Van Hollen, responded, "Our view is you pursue as many opportunities as you can. I'm sure they would prefer us to limit our efforts to one seat with a rifle shot, but we think there are more opportunities than one."

Republicans are hunting with a rifle.

After the 2006 election, they originally set their sights on taking back the two seats they lost, which now belong to Mahoney and Klein.

But at a recent Republican Party of Florida news conference, Chairman Jim Greer predicted the party would be able to hold all its seats and pick up one Democratic seat. Asked which one, Greer said, "We're focused on Mahoney."

Mahoney had a bullseye on him as soon as the votes were counted in 2006. He got lucky, Republicans said. Foley's name was still on the ballot after he resigned over news that he sent inappropriate sexual messages to boy pages, and that's the only reason Republicans say Mahoney was able to beat their party-picked replacement, then-state Rep. Joe Negron. The race was decided by less than 5,000 votes.

Now three Republicans hope to challenge him in the district that stretches from Palm Beach County across to Charlotte County on the Gulf Coast: Tom Rooney, a lawyer and former Army officer; Hal Valeche, a wealthy investor who served on the Palm Beach Gardens City Council; and state Rep. Gayle Harrell.

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