Democratic victories are always tough to come by in Republican-led legislatures, but one Florida Democrat played a key role in building bipartisan support for a rail-funding package designed to revolutionize transportation in the Sunshine State:

A key player: Sen. Jeremy Ring of Margate, who sponsored the bill and kept wooing fellow Democrats and the unions to his side.

Ring's pitch for the bill was all about jobs. Not only would construction workers and engineers find employment, he said, but the state's economy would be changed by a network of commuter, light and high-speed rail systems that would link the major urban areas of the state from Jacksonville to Miami to Orlando to Tampa.

``This will transform the future of Florida,'' Ring said. ``Today, the Florida Senate took the bold step of planning for a 21st century transportation system.''

Though imperfect, there’s a lot to like about the rail funding bill. It provides crucial support for two longstanding commuter rail projects -- SunRail and Tri-Rail -- and it significantly increases Florida’s odds of winning a $2.6 billion federal stimulus request for a bullet train between Tampa and Orlando. If successful, the three projects would add thousands of new jobs to the state economy and provide important new choices for commuters and travelers.

Naturally, Florida’s conservative base opposed the bipartisan plan, and their anger could reshape many of the key legislative and state-wide races in 2010:

But anti-tax advocates and "tea party" types are already vowing to use passage of the sweeping package against its supporters, from Crist on down.

So is Sen. Paula Dockery, the Lakeland Republican and SunRail critic who's hoping her fierce opposition to the $1.2 billion SunRail project will give a lift to her GOP primary campaign for governor against Bill McCollum.

Governor Crist and many state legislators in both parties supported the plan, and with Florida Democrats likely poised to make gains in the legislature, it will be interesting to see how this issue will impact Republican primary races.