U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan and Keith Fitzgerald | Credit: republicanconference - Flickr | Meredith Geddings - myfloridahouse.gov

Former state Rep. Keith Fitzgerald, one of five Democrat incumbents to lose their seats in the Florida House to Republicans in the 2010 elections, announced on Thursday that he will challenge Republican U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan in 2012.

First elected to the Florida House in 2006, Fitzgerald, a professor at New College of Florida, moved up to the leadership, serving as Democratic policy chair, during his two terms in Tallahassee.

Fitzgerald represented parts of Manatee and Sarasota counties until 2010, when he lost his seat to Republican candidate Ray Pilon. Despite massively outspending Pilon -- the Democrat went through almost $293,000 while the Republican challenger spent almost $144,000 -- Fitzgerald went down to defeat.

Talking to the media, Fitzgerald took aim at Buchanan’s conservative voting record. The Democrat argued that Buchanan wanted to end Medicare.

Rod Smith, the chairman of the Florida Democratic Party, issued a statement on Thursday in which he praised Fitzgerald and bashed Buchanan.

“Former state Representative Keith Fitzgerald has a record of working across the aisle to better the lives of seniors and families in Sarasota,” Smith said. “We are confident Fitzgerald will run a strong campaign centered on the independent leadership that has marked his entire career, and focus on the issues most important to the people of Florida: strengthening the economy and creating jobs.

“Congressman Vern Buchanan is the embodiment of all that is wrong with Washington,” added Smith. “From his ethics scandals to his support for ending Medicare, embattled Buchanan has been too busy fighting Democrats and cleaning up his own messes to focus on the needs of Sarasota’s families. It’s time for a change.”

In the meantime, Buchanan was on center stage this week with an appearance on MSNBC’s "Morning Joe" program hosted by former U.S. Rep. Joe Scarborough, who represented the Panhandle as a Republican in Congress. Buchanan, the chairman of the Panama Caucus and the only member of the Ways and Means Committee from the Sunshine State, has been strongly backing three stalled free-trade agreements with Colombia, Panama and South Korea that the White House finally sent to Congress earlier this week.

“Passage of these long-stalled FTAs would be a major win for Florida,” said Buchanan in a statement on Wednesday. “Creating jobs and growing the economy are the most important issues facing us today. If we expand our exports, it will help Florida’s economy as we send our goods, services and products to people around the world. In turn, this will help generate new jobs right here in our backyard.”

Buchanan maintained that the three agreements would dramatically impact the economy at both the state and national levels, pointing to a study from the U.S. International Trade Commission that found the three pacts would lead to $13 billion more in exports, add $10 billion to the GDP and as many as 250,000 jobs.

Fitzgerald has his work cut out for him if the district remains unchanged during the redistricting process which the Legislature will focus on in early 2012.

The current district contains all of DeSoto, Hardee and Sarasota counties as well as most of Manatee County and part of Charlotte County. In recent years, the district has backed Republican candidates at the presidential and congressional levels. George W. Bush beat John Kerry by 13 percent in the district in 2004. John McCain ran behind Bush but still beat Barack Obama by 5 percent in the 2008 presidential election.