In a race that pitted two political veterans with family ties to the state Legislature against each other, Miami Beach Commissioner Richard Steinberg declared victory in state House District 106.

As results slowly trickled in Tuesday night, Steinberg -- the son of a former state senator -- had nearly twice as many votes as North Bay Village Mayor Joe Geller. Geller's brother is former state Senate Democratic Leader Steve Geller.

''This is a victory for the state of Florida and the voters of this district,'' Steinberg told supporters gathered at a Miami Beach victory party.

COMPETITIVE RACE

The race to replace House Democratic Leader Dan Gelber's seat due to term limits was deemed one of the most competitive, largely based on the arsenal of campaign contributions each had collected.

With Steinberg collecting $313,305 and Geller raising $251,354, each were ranked among the top 10 fundraising candidates for state House. In the weeks leading up to the election, both candidates flooded local television screens with campaign advertisements touting their municipal experience.

Steinberg will still have to wait a couple of months to make his victory official -- come November he faces a write-in candidate, though the odds of Luis A. Macagno winning the seat are a long shot since his name won't appear on the ballot.

In District 118, which stretches from Florida City to Kendall, a family's 16-year family claim to the South Dade district's House seat seemed poised for another two years. Dwight Bullard, the son of Rep. Edward Bullard and State Sen. Larcenia Bullard, appeared to be the likely winner in a race against three other candidates including Tony E. Crapp Jr., the chief of staff for Miami Commissioner Tomas Regalado.

Throughout the race, Bullard and Crapp Jr., the son of a former high-ranking Miami-Dade bureaucrat, were seen as the two front-runners. Political feuding and finger pointing marred the days leading up to the South Dade race -- Bullard was criticized for his use of campaign funds, while Bullard took shots for what he deemed was an attack mailer sent by a group that endorsed Crapp Jr.

Bullard could not be reached for comment.

CLOSE CALL

Other tight races included the House District 109 seat vacated by Democrat Rep. Dorothy Bendross-Mindingall. The race attracted nine candidates, including former state Rep. James Bush III and Cynthia Stafford, a Legal Aid attorney, who were separated by just a few hundred votes.

Stafford was endorsed by Bendross-Mindingall and former U.S Rep. Carrie Meek and her son U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek. But Stafford struggled with pushing far ahead of Bush.

Also running neck-and-neck were Juan Espinosa and Betty Gaffney in the District 112 Democratic primary. Espinosa, a local television actor, and Gaffey were often only separated by a razor-thin 1 percent margin of about a dozen votes. The winner of the race will go on to challenge Republican Rep. David Rivera for a district that spans West Miami-Dade and the western fringes of Broward.

Miami Herald staff writers Rebecca Dellagloria and Laura Morales contributed to this report.

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