The race to unseat Democratic Rep. Suzanne Kosmas is wide open, with five Republicans running in Congressional District 24.
Despite differences in money and organization, none of the candidates has broken out of the field in the east-central Florida district that encompasses parts of Orange, Volusia, Brevard and Seminole counties.
"It's like a jump ball," says Deon Long, a Tea Party favorite who is in the contest with state Rep. Sandy Adams, retired restaurant executive Craig Miller, Winter Park City Commissioner Karen Diebel and self-styled "citizen candidate" Tom Garcia.
Informal polling suggests that as many as half of Republican voters are still not firmly committed to any candidate. Yet the winner of Tuesday's primary stands at least a fighting chance this fall, since the GOP enjoys a 3-point voter registration edge in the district.
Adams, who is term-limited from her Oviedo House seat, hopes to use her name recognition and campaign experience to move up to Washington.
Endorsed by the NRA, the American Conservative Union, Maggie's List and Florida Right-to-Life, the former sheriff's deputy pledges to take a tax-cutting agenda to Capitol Hill.
Noting that her legislative district overlaps with the 24th Congressional District, Adams points out that she received 59 percent of the vote in 2008, when Kosmas garnered 57 percent in defeating Rep. Tom Feeney.
Though Adams touts herself as a fiscal conservative, critics have assailed her vote for the controversial SunRail project and suggest that her ties to the Republican machine in Tallahassee undermine any claims to being an independent thinker.
One of those critics, Craig Miller, says the district needs "a leader, not a follower." He says his credentials as a business executive set him apart from politicians.
"I'm the only one who's signed the front of a check. I've built businesses and created jobs," the Oviedo resident said.
Miller cites his CEO experience at two national restaurant chains, Ruth's Chris and Pizzeria Uno. He claims "four years of record sales and profits" at Ruth's Chris and said he expanded Pizzeria Uno from 15 stores to 200 and took the company public during his tenure.
Yet in each case, Miller parted ways with his boards of directors. "Sometimes there are forks in the road. I stick by my principles," he says.
While skipping several recent candidate forums, Miller is accused by his rivals of waffling on immigration, fueling suspicions that he is a "RINO" (Republican in Name Only). Miller, who became embroiled in the issue as chairman of the National Restaurant Association, says he supports the federal E-Verify system for determining legal employment status.
Karen Diebel figures to blend her political and business experience to represent a district that "potentially faces the largest job loss in the country," with 23,000 direct and indirect positions on the line along the Space Coast.
In addition to serving as a Winter Park city commissioner, Diebel founded an Orlando low-income health clinic named for her late husband and is an executive director at Verizon Business.
"My background in the private sector is all about job creation in technology, communications and engineering."
Though her opponents allege she voted to raise fees in Winter Park, Diebel counters that she and the Commission have cut millage rates. She has been endorsed by 2008 Republican presidential candidate and new Florida Panhandle resident Mike Huckabee.
Deon Long promotes big issues, such as implementing the FAIR Tax (exchanging the income tax for a national sales tax) and returning U.S. currency to the gold standard.
Locally, the Winter Park attorney has been involved in political battles at the Orange County Republican Executive Committee, winning the respect and support of Tea Party activists along the way.
Tom Garcia shares many of Long's strict constructionist positions and sees himself vying for the same restive voters. The airline pilot from Titusville quotes freely from Thomas Jefferson and says "my platform is the Constitution.
"My stump speeches are a class on the Constitution, which we have been violating for 100 years."
Whereas Long focuses on big-picture items such as a balanced-budget amendment, Garcia, a veteran, said he would concentrate on "small things, like designating a National Day of Awareness for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder."
In the Democratic primary, Kosmas of New Smyrna Beach faces token opposition from Paul Partyka of Winter Springs.
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Contact Kenric Ward at kward@sunshinestatenews.com or (772) 801-5341.
