Democrats file to challenge Blaise Ingoglia, Chip LaMarca

Ingoglia

A pair of Democrats have signed up to take on incumbent Republicans in the Florida House.

Hernando Beach Democrat Keith Laufenberg has signed up to run against Spring Hill Republican Rep. Blaise Ingoglia in Hernando County-based House District 35.

Meanwhile, Lauderdale by the Seat Democrat Linda Marie Thompson Gonzalez is taking aim at Lighthouse Point GOP Rep. Chip LaMarca in Broward County’s House District 93.

Of the two, HD 93 has better odds for a flip, though it is still unlikely the seat will be in Democratic control come November 2020.

HD 93 is the only Republican-held district fully within Broward County. It has been held by a Republican since it was redrawn ahead of the 2012 election — former Rep. George Moraitis held the seat for his final three terms before LaMarca took it over with a 7-point win over Democrat Emma Collum last year.

The margin in that race was notable as Collum had the funding to run a competitive campaign, yet she only got 1-point closer than the Democrat who sought the seat in 2016.

HD 35, meanwhile, is a GOP stronghold. According to the most recent bookclosing reports, about 41 percent of the electorate are registered Republicans compared to a 32 percent share for Democrats.

Igoglia’s 2016 outing saw him win reelection with more than 60 percent of the vote.

Both incumbents also have healthy campaign accounts.

At the end of July, Igoglia had about $18,000 in his campaign account and another $60,000 on hand in his political committee, Government Gone Wild.

Through the same date, LaMarca had more than $64,000 in hard money in the bank.

Both Democrats entered the race late last month and will have to turn in a campaign finance report covering the last few days of August by Sept. 10.