A Challenge for Villalobos

You knew this was coming. Sen. Alex Villalobos of Miami, the deposed majority leader who's struggling to hold onto his presidency in 2008, has drawn a Republican primary opponent. He is Frank Bolanos, appointed by Gov. Jeb Bush to the Miami-Dade School Board in 2001 and who, unlike Villalobos, supports relaxing the class-size standards in the Constitution.

Bolanos' candidacy was first reported on The Miami Herald web site. Villalobos has fiercely defended his support for the class-size amendment, citing overcrowding in his Miami district. But he has never been challenged since he was elected to the House 12 years ago. Bolanos' candidacy is the first sign of the Senate power struggle seeping into the 2006 election cycle.

Villalobos was one of six Senate Republicans who bolted from the GOP caucus and refused to support a bill by Sen. Ken Pruitt, R-Port St. Lucie (likely the next Senate president) to weaken the rigid class-size caps, approved by voters in 2002, from a school-by-school level to a school district level. That vote, combined with Villalobos' opposition to putting vouchers in the state Constitution, cost him the majority leader's post.