Florida's 12th district is an open seat being vacated by Republican Adam Putnam. Democrat Lori Edwards has a real chance to flip this seat in a 3 way race in which a Tea Party candidate is splitting votes with the GOP primary winner.
Lori Edwards is the current Supervisor of Elections for Polk County which comprises about 65 percent of this central Florida district on the I-4 corridor. She has excellent name recognition and proven electability.
Edwards' opponents are Republican Dennis Ross and Tea Partian Randy Wilkinson, a current Polk County Commissioner. Tea Party is capitalized because Wilkinson is an actual candidate - one of 22 statewide - for an entity called the The Tea Party which is registered with the Florida Division of Elections. This means the "TEA" will be printed on the ballot next to Wilkinson's name. This is exciting! and with luck it will help guide the brainless who might otherwise vote straight "REP".
Anyway, there are no recent polls for this race, but an old poll from August shows Wilkinson sucking up a good percentage of the Republican vote.
No one knows how this race is going to go. McCain won the district with 51 percent. Adam Putnam never faced any serious challenge. The district is R+5, and a Dem pick up here would be very sweet.
Edwards is backed by unions and working families. Ross is backed by big business. Wilkinson has the crazies in his pocket - not enough to win, but plenty to be a spoiler.
Dennis Ross is ahead in the money race but Lori Edwards has raised enough to be competitive. She could always use a little more.
With a real Tea Party candidate sharing the ballot with a Republican and a popular Democrat, we have a real opportunity to flip Florida's 12th.
This race is really going to come down to the Dem GOTV effort. If you live in or near FL 12, Lori Edwards and the Polk Dems will welcome your support. Call and offer it. Now.
Update - adding link to Lori Edwards' ActBlue page. (thanks to Lujane in comments!)