Kosmas primary filling up fast as Hukill files

Things are getting awfully crowded in the race to face freshman Rep. Suzanne Kosmas (D-Fla.) in 2010.

Florida state Rep. Dorothy Hukill (R) just announced that she has filed her candidacy for the seat. Her announcement comes just weeks after Winter Park City Commissioner Karen Diebel (R) launched her own bid for the seat, and just days after state Rep. Sandy Adams (R) sounded plenty like a candidate herself.

At least for now, Republicans are headed for a crowded primary.

Hukill holds Kosmas’s old state House seat and is the first Republican to hold it. Before that, she served as mayor of Port Orange.

She said she thinks the party is well-positioned in the race, despite the potential primary. When asked if a primary was inevitable, she said she has reached out to Diebel but hasn’t heard back.

“I don’t know what her intentions are; I’ve tried to reach her and haven’t been able to reach her,” Hukill said. “I intend to stay in.”

Adams told the Orlando Sentinel last week that “there’s a high probability that there’s truth to” rumors that she plans to face Kosmas.

“We’re putting everything together now, and I expect to make an announcement soon,” Adams told the paper.

Here’s a trivia question I don’t know the answer to: When’s the last time three women battled for the right to face an incumbent woman in a congressional race, with not one man in the field?