Posted on Wednesday, Jun. 03, 2009
U.S. Rep. Corrine Brown compete with Kendrick Meek for Senate seat
By BETH REINHARD
Just three days after Kendrick Meek's leading Democratic rival for the U.S. Senate stepped aside, a family friend and colleague in Congress stunned the party establishment and jumped in.
Democratic U.S. Rep. Corrine Brown of Jacksonville said Tuesday that she is forming an ''exploratory committee'' that will allow her to raise money and campaign for the seat currently held by Republican Mel Martinez. He is retiring in 2010.
Brown, along with Meek's mother and Alcee Hastings of Miramar, became the first black members of Congress from Florida since Reconstruction when they were elected together in 1992. Carrie Meek retired in 2002, paving the way for her son to win her seat.
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