Florida Democratic House District 60 Rep. Lindsay Cross and her Republican challenger, Ed Montanari, on Sept. 23, 2024. (Photo by Mitch Perry/Florida Phoenix)
If the Florida Democratic Party can achieve its incremental goal of escaping its superminority status in both chambers of the Legislature this election year, they can’t lose any of the seats they now hold in the Capitol.
One seat that has been targeted by the Republican Party of Florida for a possible flip is House District 60, comprising much of the city of St. Petersburg and Pinellas Park in Pinellas County. While it’s Democratic incumbent Lindsay Cross’s first attempt to be re-elected, it’s long been a Democratic stronghold.
Both state parties are watching closely, and both have financially invested in the race.
Cross won the seat by eight percentage points in 2022 and Joe Biden won it by 11 in 2020. But the district — like the entire state — has become less blue over the past few years. As of July 22, the state Division of Elections reported that 36% of voters in the district were registered Democrats, 33.5% were registered Republicans, and 30% as nonparty-affiliated voters or with third parties.