With the political wind at their backs, Florida Republicans increased their majority in the state Senate, claiming 28 of its 40 seats -- a very comfortable majority for incoming Gov. Rick Scott’s legislative agenda.

“Tonight, the voters of Florida have chosen to increase the number of Republicans serving in the Florida Senate to 28,” said incoming Senate President Mike Haridopolos, R-Merritt Island. “This is the first time a party has picked up multiple seats during a regular election since the mid-1980s, making this the largest majority of any party in more than 25 years.

“This increase will allow our Republican-led Legislature to tackle tough issues facing our state in the upcoming 2011 legislative session – from balancing our state’s budget to reforming Medicaid and cutting wasteful government spending, all with our conservative principles in mind,” added Haridopolos. “By gaining a stronger majority with an additional two seats, I am confident that we will be able to pass meaningful legislation that will have a positive impact on the state of Florida. I look forward to working with these new Republican lawmakers in the Florida Senate.”

Republicans picked up the seats currently held by Sen. Charlie Justice, D-St. Petersburg, and Sen. Dave Aronberg, D-Greenacres, who both unsuccessfully sought other offices. In the race for Justice’s seat, former Senate Majority Leader Jack Latvala handily defeated the Democratic candidate, Pinellas County School Board member Nina Hayden. With almost 129,000 votes counted, Latvala had 64 percent and Hayden took 36 percent. In the race for Aronberg’s seat, longtime Wellington Councilwoman and Vice Mayor Lizbeth Benacquisto, the Republican candidate, defeated Democratic Rep. Kevin Rader of Boynton Beach. With more than 144,500 votes counted, Benacquisto had 54 percent while Rader had 46 percent.

Democrats had high hopes of knocking off two Republicans in North Florida but were not able to defeat either Sen. Steve Oehlrich of Gainesville or Sen. John Thrasher of Jacksonville, the chairman of the Republican Party of Florida. Oehlrich held off former Rep. Perry McGriff, taking 54 percent to the Democrat’s 46 percent.

Thrasher did even better, crushing Democratic candidate longtime Jacksonville news anchor Deborah Gianoulis. With almost 180,000 votes in, Thrasher took 60 percent while Gianoulis trailed with 40 percent.

“I congratulate Senator Thrasher on his re-election to Senate District 8, and I look forward to him being a key part of my leadership team,” said Haridopolos. “Senator Thrasher’s focus on keeping taxes low, reducing wasteful government spending and growing our state’s job base is vital to the continued success of the Florida Senate.”

There were few surprises in the other Senate races as most incumbents cruised to re-election.

Five incumbent senators -- Haridopolos, Republican Don Gaetz of Fort Walton Beach, Republican Joe Negron of Palm City, incoming Democratic Senate Leader Nan Rich of Weston and Democrat Arthenia Joyner of Tampa -- faced no opposition on Tuesday. Sen. Ronda Storms, R-Brandon, easily survived a challenge from a write-in candidate.

Some of the incumbents had harder tasks but all of them prevailed.

With no Democratic candidate in the race, Sen. Thad Altman, R-Viera, defeated independent candidate Steve Edmonds on Tuesday. Altman took more than 67 percent of the more than 153,000 votes counted to continue to represent parts of Brevard, Orange and Seminole counties.

Sen. Jeremy Ring, D-Margate, won a second term -- beating Republican nominee Patrick Laffey with 64 percent of the almost 95,000 votes counted. Ring, a moderate Democrat whose work on ports' issues has earned him the praise of the Associated Industries of Florida, made a large impression on Wednesday, calling for Florida Democratic Party Chairwoman Karen Thurman to step down after the results of Tuesday’s elections.