By MARK LANE

When the qualifying deadline for federal elections came and went last week, two U.S. House elections in Florida were done and settled. Kendrick Meek, D-Miami, and Corrine Brown, D-Jacksonville, will go back to Washington without appearing on a ballot, the smallest number of Florida representatives automatically re-elected since 2000.

Sure, two House seats filled without anybody voting is two too many. But in a state like Florida, where incumbents usually get free rides, this is surprising. Two years ago, five races were settled without the fuss and bother of this thing people call the democratic process.

On paper, it's kind of surprising that Brown would be the one to get another free re-election.

She has a lively, un-self-conscious personality and speaks her mind in ways that can be a little too vivid and spontaneous for general consumption. Her 14.9 percent missed-vote record is the highest in the Florida congressional delegation. Her ethical problems over the years have been widely reported. In 2000, the House's ethics committee, while absolving her of rules violations, also criticized her for "poor judgment" that created "the appearance of impropriety'" in her dealings with African multimillionaire and all-around international man of mystery Foutanga Dit Babani Sissoko.

Stuff that any opposition researcher would find in his first Google search. But Brown hasn't had a real opponent since 2002.

Most of Volusia and all of Flagler are represented by U.S. Rep. John Mica, R-Casselberry. He hasn't had a hard challenge since 2002, after his district was redrawn to throw some Republican voters into a district the Legislature custom-fitted for then-House Speaker Tom Feeney.

Last week, not one but two Democrats signed up to run against him -- Clyde Malloy, Ormond Beach, and Faye Armitage, Jacksonville. It's that kind of year for Republicans.

But the race that is going to overshadow all others here, the one that could be the first really competitive congressional race here in 20 years, is in the next district to the south. Five people have signed up to run in District 24. The two who have raised the most money are the incumbent, Feeney, and Suzanne Kosmas, New Smyrna Beach, a former state legislator.

Kosmas has raised $303,000 in the first three months of this year -- surprisingly more than the incumbent who raised $196,000 over the same time. (This is the point where I must use the phrase "war chest" or risk losing my pundit's license.) Both already have war chests of more than a half million dollars.

Expect a bruising race that will be talked about nationally. Kosmas has a rich target in Feeney's Scottish golf trip with now-imprisoned former super-lobbyist Jack Abramoff. And Feeney's style is described as scrappy if you like him, hyperpartisan, down and dirty if you don't.

Cook Political Report and CQ Politics rate this race as "Republican Favored," but this district already saw a political upset when the Cape Canaveral area sent a Democrat to the Florida Legislature in February, the first in a dozen years.

You may not know who these candidates are now, but after summer, you won't be able to turn on a television or open your mailbox without encountering a negative ad from one of these campaigns or one of the independent groups that will be jumping in.

Don't say you haven't been warned.

mark.lane@news-jrnl.com [2]