It depends. In Florida, Lawton Chiles (Dem) held the legislature (overwhlemingly republican - democrats are irrelevant) in check pretty well, which forced governance from the center.

Then, Jeb Bush came in. Between Jeb and the legislature, they proceeded to dismantle government in our state. With no check, they were drunk on power.

The reason I say depends is that Charlie Crist is now governor. He is a registered republican, but he is a liberal at heart, and the state is in gridlock again. Sometimes, gridlock is good, because the worst thing for government is for the pendulum to swing wildly from one side to the other.