DeFede Columns

NORTH MIAMI (CBS4) ― When Kendrick Meek announced in January he was giving up his Congressional seat to run for the United States Senate, it set up what will likely be one of the most interesting political fights in the country in 2010 – the race to replace him.

On Saturday, State Sen. Frederica Wilson – a politician as identifiable for her love of hats as she is for any particular piece of legislation – announced her intention to run for Meek's seat in front of several dozen supporters at a home in North Miami.

"I feel like I've been running forever," she said

If this is a path that seems familiar to Wilson, it is with good reason. When Wilson was a member of the Miami-Dade School Board and Meek was a member of the Florida House of Representatives, Meek called Wilson to let her know he was running for the state senate. She then ran and won Meek's old state house seat in 1998, defeating seven other challengers and garnering more than 50 percent of the vote.

In 2002, when Meek left the state senate to run for Congress, Wilson once again jumped in and won the race to replace him. Now, with Meek running for the Senate seat being vacated by Republican Sen. Mel Martinez, Wilson is hoping she can keep her streak of following Meek alive for a third time.

"It's a natural progression for me," she said, adding, "This is a dream come true. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity."

But while Wilson is arguably the front-runner in the race, this contest is likely to be much tougher than any she has run for in the past.

There are at least eight or nine other candidates who have already announced or are thinking of running, including Miami Gardens Mayor Shirley Gibson, Miami Gardens City Councilman Andre Williams, Opa Locka Mayor Joseph Kelly, former state Rep. Phillip Brutus, and current state representatives Yolly Roberson and James Bush.

The 17th Congressional District is predominantly made up of black voters – 87 percent of the district voted for Barack Obama in the presidential race. But within that block, it also has the largest percentage of Haitian American voters of any congressional district in the country. This race could quickly turn into a test of their political strength. There has never been a Haitian American in the United States Congress.

Both Roberson and Brutus are Haitian American and The Hill newspaper recently reported that Haitian American activist Marlene Bastien is considering joining the race. Haitian Americans have shown their political clout in local elections, especially in the city of North Miami, but they have been unable to take the next step. Several bids to win a seat on the county commission have fallen short.

But the congressional race could set up nicely for a Haitian American candidate. Under Florida law, the primary will be a winner-take-all proposition, which means there will be no run off. Conceivably, a candidate could win with just 25 percent of the vote.

If the Haitian American community solidified their support around one candidate, that person would have an excellent shot at winning. But if three or four well-known Haitian American candidates get into the race, they could split the vote and give Wilson a sizeable advantage.

In an interview after her announcement, Wilson stressed she expects to win a large block of Haitian votes. "I have a strong base in the Haitian American community," she said.

She picked up the support of Bishop Victor Curry, who attended Saturday's event. Curry considered running for the Congressional seat himself, but said he would never run against Wilson.

When I asked Curry if he would have run if Wilson stayed out of the race, and he smiled, saying only: "No comment."

Wilson said she expects to raise between $750,000 and $1 million for the race – which is low by most congressional race standards, but she believes will be adequate because the district is so compact. Her state senate district largely overlaps with the congressional district, she noted.

Meek has so far declined to endorse anyone in the race to replace him saying he would be concentrating on his own campaign. He clearly does not want to alienate any voters at this point by supporting a particular candidate. Likewise, Wilson said she would not endorse anyone in the race to replace her in the state senate.

Wilson said if she is elected to Congress she wants to be placed on the committee that deals with education. She said she would like to see the program she created – 5,000 Role Models of Excellence, which identifies and mentors troubled young men – be expanded to high schools throughout the country.

And after years of toiling in the minority in Tallahassee, she said if she wins, she is looking forward to working with a Democratic majority in Congress.

"This is a new day, a new time in the history of all of our lives," she said. "I'm ready to fight."

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