As I-4 corridor goes, so goes Florida

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DeLAND, Fla. — Interstate 4 slices through Florida's midsection, separating densely populated, boisterous South Florida from the state's more rural and conservative north.

But this asphalt artery that stretches 132 miles from Tampa east to Daytona Beach also passes through some of Florida's most coveted electoral turf, serving as the Sunshine State's main battleground for presidential hopefuls.

"We kind of laughingly call it the highway of heaven for the candidates, because if they win I-4, they win Florida," said Susan MacManus, a political science professor at the University of South Florida in Tampa. "The I-4 corridor is the new growth part of the state, and the most politically competitive part of the state."

More than 40 percent of Florida's registered voters live in counties straddling the interstate, which includes the burgeoning Orlando area and popular retirement centers like Lakeland and Winter Haven, while in between are millions of acres of citrus groves and scrub pine woods.

Slightly more than half the corridor's voters are Republican. But about 20 percent of the electorate are registered as independents or with minor parties, making the area highly desirable for candidates, and deeply frustrating for pollsters.

"I always think of Central Florida — the I-4 corridor — as the tipping point of the state," said Aubrey Jewitt, a political-science professor at the University of Central Florida in Orlando. "It's an area of swing voters."

Between 45 percent and 50 percent of Florida's Republican voters live along the corridor, as do 40 percent to 45 percent of the state's Democrats, said Erin VanSickle, a spokeswoman with the Republican Party of Florida.

"If we win the I-4 media market by four or five percentage points, we win the state by four or five points," Ms. VanSickle said. "It basically mirrors what the state is doing."

Jennifer and Chris Ditslear of DeLand, a quaint old Florida town of about 25,000 residents east of Orlando, represent the corridor's divided political alliances; she's a Democrat, while her husband is a Republican.

"DeLand is a microcosm of Florida and the Florida electorate — always has been," said Mr. Ditslear, an attorney. "We're an equally divided town for sure."