State Sen. Ellyn Bogdanoff, R-Fort Lauderdale, easily dispatched a Republican challenger Tuesday to set up one of the few anticipated general election clashes among sitting senators.
Bogdanoff, who was redistricted into a more favorably Democratic district, will square off in what should be a more hotly contested battle against Sen. Maria Sachs, D-Delray Beach, for the new District 34 seat.
At stake is a four-year seat paying $29,697.
On Tuesday, Bogdanoff routed Lake Worth businessman Mike Lameyer.
Lameyer, a pilot, a bowling coach and former Marine who is a backer of the James Madison Institute, ran in the Republican primary for a state Senate seat back in 2010, placing third with 25 percent behind Sen. Lizbeth Benacquisto, R-Fort Myers, who won the nomination and the seat in the general election, and former Rep. Sharon Merchant.
Bogdanoff, who has the support of most of the Republican leadership in the state and is known for having championed the failed casino expansion bill in the 2012 session, heads into the fall campaign with more than $260,000 remaining from the $402,934 she had raised prior to the primary.
Sachs, who has the advantage of a district that voted 57 percent for President Obama in 2008, has spent $51,652 of the $210,560 she has raised.
Reach Jim Turner at jturner@sunshinestatenews.com or at (772) 215-9889.
