It’s been a crazy last few days in the 2010 Florida Senate race, where both parties are jockeying to succeed retiring GOP Sen. Mel Martinez in this perennial swing state.
Over the weekend, Democratic state Sen. Dan Gelber announced that he is “stepping back” from the race — that is, he’s dropping out — in order to avoid a nasty primary (current press speculation is he could end up running for a different state office). The frontrunner for the Dem nomination is Rep. Kendrick Meek, who has already raised $1.5 million.
Gelber wrote: “It makes little sense — when we do face the prospect of real change in Florida — for me to participate in a potentially divisive primary for U.S. Senate that will only serve to diminish our chances against a very formidable and well-known Republican nominee.”
Meanwhile, Rep. Corrine Brown now says she’s might get in in the Democratic primary, and will make a decision in the next two weeks.
Republican Gov. Charlie Crist is the frontrunner for both his own primary against a conservative challenger, former state House Speaker Marco Rubio, and in the general election — but of course, a lot can happen in the next year and a half.
