It all began Monday for candidates in the 27 congressional and 160 legislative races in Florida -- the ritualistic business of qualifying at the state Capitol in Tallahassee.

A write-in candidate has filed to challenge state Senate candidate Wilton Simpson, a move that should have little impact on the outcome -- other than to require a contest -- unless another Republican challenger emerges.

Otherwise, surprises were few and far between on day one of the official qualifying week for state legislators and congressional candidates in the Sunshine State.

View qualified state House, state Senate, U.S. House and U.S. Senate candidates here.

While a number of incumbents wasted little time getting their paperwork into the state Division of Elections on Monday, nearly every candidate -- including VoteforEddie.com -- had previously announced and in most cases prequalified either by paying the qualifying fee or by collecting signatures of registered voters.

The dot com-named candidate is the legal name of Eddie Gonzalez, a candidate from Hialeah running for Congress.

Candidates for the Aug. 14 primary and Nov. 6 general election have until noon Friday to file qualifying paperwork.



Reach Jim Turner at jturner@sunshinestatenews.com or at (772) 215-9889.