We’re off to the races.

The deadline arrived Friday for local and state candidates to qualify for the fall ballot, and there were lots of last-minute surprises.

Statewide, Florida Democrats fielded candidates in all 140 legislative seats that are up this fall. It’s not easy to pull that off, and they did.

It’s true, many Senate and House districts are shaped to maximize Republican voting strength and the GOP holds a formidable lead in voter registration. But the first step to being competitive is to get in the game. The presence of a “D” on the ballot will force Republicans to spend resources they otherwise would not have to spend.

More broadly, people will have options they didn’t have two years ago. That’s progress.

Too few competitive elections for the Legislature is the result of term limits (in which candidates simply wait until a seat is open); gerrymandered districts; and the power of big money. It’s a major contributor to all that’s gone wrong in Florida.

One-party control breeds arrogance and corruption and inevitably leads to illicit, power-hungry schemes like recruiting “ghost” candidates to deceive voters and manipulate elections.

The presence of a Democratic alternative on the ballot forces Republicans to defend their many votes to put outdoor workers at risk, eviscerate local government home rule, undermine public education, make it harder to vote, harm the environment, promote sprawl, criminalize homelessness and weaken ethics laws.

Another surprise was that the only legislators who won without opposition were Democrats — something right out of 1984.

Two state Senate candidates won unopposed in open seats, Mack Bernard in West Palm Beach and Carlos Guillermo Smith in Orlando.

Smith, a forceful, well-informed, media-savvy lawmaker who lost a House re-election bid two years ago, immediately gives Democrats a stronger voice in Tallahassee.

His quick return to prominence is a lesson for everyone, not just in politics. Don’t quit. Don’t get discouraged. He didn’t, and he’ll be Senator Smith.

Smith and Bernard will represent Democratic districts. That’s the easy part. It’s much harder to flip a district from Republican to Democrat, which involves luck, timing and boatloads of money.

The best chance for Democrats is in a North Florida Tallahassee-based district, where Republican Sen. Corey Simon will face a spirited challenge from a prominent civil rights attorney, Daryl Parks.

Nine Democratic House members won new terms without opposition, six from our region: Reps. Jervonte “Tae” Edmonds of West Palm Beach, Kelly Skidmore of Boca Raton, Dan Daley of Coral Springs, Hillary Cassel of Dania Beach, Lisa Dunkley of Sunrise and Christine Hunschofsky of Parkland.

“I love the work. I love representing my community in Tallahassee,” Hunschofsky said. “I’m incredibly grateful that I get to continue to do that.”

Friday was a bittersweet day for Hunschofsky. The former Parkland mayor joined many others at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School as demolition began of the 1200 Building where 17 students and school staff members were killed in 2018.

For the record, true two-party competition means that all those Democrats should also have gotten Republican challengers.

But candidates aren’t fools; not all of them anyway. With one or two exceptions, the chances of Republicans flipping a House seat in heavily Democratic Broward are slim to none.

Broward is assured of getting two new legislators, a senator and a representative.

Three Democrats will compete in Southwest Broward’s Senate District 35, where Lauren Book is term-limited, and four Democrats are running in Northeast Broward’s House District 98, where Rep. Patricia Williams is termed out.

Only Democrats filed there, which sets up a rare universal primary on Aug. 20, when every voter can participate.

In local politics, there were more surprises.

In the final hours before the deadline, Broward School Board member Torey Alston filed to run for the District 2 seat in southwest Broward to which he was appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis two years ago.

Alston listed a Fort Lauderdale post office box as his official residence on his filing papers. Can an appointee who’s politically joined at the hip to DeSantis, win an election in deep-blue Broward? I seriously doubt it, but we’ll find out.

Sunrise Mayor Mike Ryan drew a last-minute challenge from Commissioner Mark Douglas.

Fort Lauderdale Mayor Dean Trantalis drew four challengers: Kenneth Cooper, Jim Lewis, Christopher Paul Nelson and Barbra Anne Stern, a lawyer who represented City Commissioner John Herbst when the mayor questioned the legitimacy of Herbst’s impressive victory in 2022.

Having so many opponents might work to the mayor’s advantage, as his four competitors could divide the anti-incumbent vote.

Stern, the daughter of Judy Stern, a high-profile lobbyist and political consultant, intends to make the election a referendum on overdevelopment and quality of life in Broward’s largest city.

“The residents of Fort Lauderdale need a choice,” Stern said.

Steve Bousquet is Opinion Editor of the Sun Sentinel and a columnist in Tallahassee and Fort Lauderdale. Contact him at sbousquet@sunsentinel.com or (850) 567-2240 and follow him on X @stevebousquet.