The Creigh Deeds Strategy Comes To Central Florida-- Time To Say Good-bye To Suzanne Kosmas?

Lobbyist shill Suzanne Kosmas draws a

progressive primary opponent, Paul Partyka

Suzanne Kosmas never did join the Blue Dog caucus-- but judging from her voting record, she might as well have. Her 45.10 ProgressivePunch score shows her voting more frequently on the Republican side of the aisle than Florida's very right-wing Blue Dog, Allen Boyd (48.00), who represents a considerably more conservative panhandle district. Kosmas has the distinction of having created the most reactionary voting record of any Florida Democrat. Her startling vote against healthcare reform was the straw that broke the camel's back for Central Florida Democratic activists, many of whom are pledging to not vote for her again. FL-24 is a swing state district where McCain beat Obama 51-49% and Kosmas only won because voters were sick and tired of the overt corruption of their congressman, Abramoff-crony Tom Feeney. And now Kosmas has drawn a primary opponent-- a very credible one.

Paul Partyka is the former mayor of Winter Springs who announced last week that he will be trying to unseat Kosmas in Florida's August 24 primary. That makes him the second candidate, after Regina Thomas in GA-12, to file against an anti-healthcare conservative since the House vote on November 7.

"I'm still not pleased with what I'm seeing," Partyka said. "Rather than sit back on the sidelines complaining, I said maybe it's time to put my hat in the ring."

...Partyka said the federal government needs to do more to fix the credit markets and create jobs, and he would like to see more action taken on health care reform.

"I still haven't seen what I call people working together from both sides of issues," Partyka said. "Whether you're Republican or Democrat, it seems to me the divisiveness is still there, and I don't see any kind of strong trend to change that. And again, maybe I'm one person, but my work has always been trying to get people together, deal making."

Partyka, a wealthy real estate developer, has the money to compete against Kosmas, widely considered the most corrupt corporate shill among all House Democratic freshmen. Her life in DC has been a life spent with K Street lobbyists, who have showered her with money. She has a warchest of nearly a million dollars and it will be no easy task to dislodge her. A tough primary, though, that uses up all of her resources, is likely to make her much easier pickings, if she survives the primary, for a solid Republican opponent. Right now, though, the GOP doesn't have a solid opponent, just a laughable 8 ring circus. Republican Party disunity and ineptitude is really the only way Kosmas will be able to hold the seat.

I just spoke with Paul on the phone, a long time Florida Democratic Party activist. Brief run-down: He would have voted for the healthcare reform bill that Kosmas joined the GOP in opposing. He is pro-choice and absolutely favors equality for all Americans including minorities and gays. That's stuff he feels in the fiber of his being; no one had to coax that out of him. He favors campaign finance reform and if he's elected he'll sign on as a co-sponsor of H.R. 1826 and spoke unhesitatingly about ending the occupation of Afghanistan and bringing our troops home in an orderly fashion. There wasn't a single question I asked him-- or a single issue he brought up-- that didn't find him looking at it from the progressive perspective. He sounds like a great candidate!