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The Republican Primary race for Congressional District 24 is crowded with a diverse group of contenders. Eight confirmed candidates, including three females, are running for the slot to challenge incumbent Democrat Suzanne M. Kosmas, the former real estate agent who defeated Tom Feeney, last fall.
District 24’s diverse constituency is reflected in the GOP's field of candidates. Judging from the presidential election figures, (McCain over Obama, 52%-47%) the district appears to be a conservative stronghold, but the same voters elected Kosmas into office by a landslide margin of 57% -41% against Feeney, a three-term incumbent.
Candidates face a unique challenge of campaigning in three counties: Brevard, Orange and Volusia. Sports writers and political junkies were suprised to hear former Notre Dame and South Carolina head coach, Lou Holtz consider a congressional run, but Holtz dropped out of the District 24 race last week. . The voting base includes many active and retired members of NASA and the U.S. Air Force, which could play into the favor of a candidate such as Commander Tom Garcia,of Melbourne. Garcia is a former NAVY aviator and an aerospace engineering consultant. Winter Park's Vice-Mayor Karen Diebel, (www.karendiebel.com) who is also an executive director of global solutions at Verizon, has raised $100,000, followed by Dr. Ken Miller, (www.kenmillerforcongress.com) an anesthesiologist, from Winter Park, who has raised $26,000. Other names in the Republican ring include: former Port Orange Mayor and current State Representative, Dorothy Hukill, [Editor's note- Hukill dropped out of the race in October) former cop and current State Representative Sandy Adams, state Senator Lee Constantine,Sean Campbell and Jim "Heinie" Heinzelman.
With more than a year remaining before the general election and no official opponent, Kosmas already has plenty of work cut out for her. As the incumbent, Kosmas enjoys an early fundraising advantage, with $605,534 on hand, but she has already spent more than $109,000 on her re-election bid.
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