I was distraught and I despaired that C.W. "Bill" Young -- the 19 term congressman serving Florida's 10th congressional district (mostly Pinellas county, Florida including St. Petersburg, Palm Harbor, Dunedin and the beaches) was getting a free pass this election cycle. He'd be facing Samm Simpson once again come the general and he would likely win in a walk.
That's changed a bit.
Simpson does not have a free path to the general election any more. She faces a primary challenge from a candidate who previously had statewide and national exposure from his failed 3rd party gubernatorial campaign in 2006. I'm talking about Max Linn, who has entered the fray with a (D) next to his name.
Fl-10 is a decidedly purple district and the keenest problem is the long time incumbency and respect for Bill Young. It will be in play come the national elction and it should be in play in the FL-10 congressional race... but it hasn't been.
Young's incumbency coupled with weak opponents have routinely set the stage for another term in congress for Young, who all may remember him as Mr. Walter Reed.
Samm Simpson is routinely termed as a smart cookie who is well versed in many subjects, but who is also someone who cannot fundraise and who is all over the place on issues instead of focusing on what is important to the general public. Constant gaffe's also hurt her -- her latest being not securing Samsimpsonforcongress.com (a common mispelling of her name) and a losing the domain to a pornographic advertiser.
That's not to say Max Linn is a better candidate. The only information I have to go on about him is from his Wikipedia article as his campaign website is not up and running.
But competition is important in this district as whoever the Democratic nominee is needs to have a strong game in order to take on the congressional Republican standard.
Update:: Added a link to The 2008 Racetracker for the district.