Joe Garcia says he has already raised $1 million in his fight to take on U.S. Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart in Miami-Dade County. U.S. Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart has knocked on an estimated 2,000 doors in Broward County as he defends his seat.

But over the next week, the front in the fight for Congress will be elsewhere, as primary contests are waged across other parts of Florida.

The most competitive: a rancorous Republican primary in Palm Beach County in which the victor will try to oust Rep. Tim Mahoney, a Democrat who narrowly won the Republican-leaning district after Rep. Mark Foley stepped down in disgrace. Mahoney's seat is a major target for Republicans, who are otherwise on the defensive in several Florida districts.

Gov. Charlie Crist stepped into the race Friday in an effort to tamp down some of the rancor, endorsing Tom Rooney, an attorney whose family owns the Palm Beach Kennel Club and the Pittsburgh Steelers.

''When Charlie speaks, the people of Florida listen,'' said Joe Negron, who narrowly lost to Mahoney in 2006. Rooney served as an assistant attorney general when Crist was the attorney general.

Rooney is running against state Rep. Gayle Harrell and businessman Hal Valeche, who has attacked Rooney's ties to the dog track and ripped into both rivals with a TV ad claiming that they ''don't share our conservative values'' on abortion.

Valeche and Harrell each attacked Crist's endorsement Friday, suggesting that gambling interests had played a role and portraying themselves as the true conservatives in the race.

''This is another example of the influence [that] rich special interests and their well-connected lobbyists have on the political process and one more reason it's time to change the way government works,'' said Harrell's campaign manager, Anthony Bonna.

''This one is very much up for grabs,'' said David Wasserman, who watches congressional races for the nonpartisan Cook Report.

PRIMARY CONTESTS

Democrats have aggressively put three Republican seats in Miami into play for the first time in years, but none of the races involve primaries. The party is targeting at least six seats in Florida. Republicans are hoping to take Mahoney's seat away from the majority party, and retain the seat now held by retiring Republican Rep. Dave Weldon.

In Orlando, five Democrats are running in the primary for the chance to challenge Republican Rep. Ric Keller, a top Democratic target. They include businessman Charlie Stuart, who lost to Keller in the general election in 2006, attorney Mike Smith and Alan Grayson, who lost to Stuart in the Democratic primary in 2006.

Democrats haven't picked a favorite in the race, but said they view the seat as a ''great pickup opportunity'' for the party in an election year that may favor congressional Democrats.

Keller also faces a primary of his own. He is being challenged by Todd Long in a primary marked by a Keller attack mailer that points out Long's 1998 arrest for DUI.

On the Space Coast, Republicans and Democrats are in primaries to succeed outgoing Republican Rep. Dave Weldon, whose retirement created the only open seat in the state.

Republican state Sen. Bill Posey, who has two opponents in the primary, has been considered the favorite to win the Republican-leaning seat, but Democrats are enthusiastic about the candidacy of Paul Rancatore, an Air Force Reserve officer. He faces physician Stephen Blythe in the primary.

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