Kosmas, Suzanne, 1944-

Suzanne M. Kosmas (born February 25, 1944) is an American real estate broker and politician. A member of the Democratic Party, she served as the U.S. Representative for Florida's 24th congressional district from 2009 until 2011.

Born Suzanne McDonald in Washington, DC, she attended Pennsylvania State University, State College, from 1961 to 1963, and George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, from 1971 to 1973. She moved to New Smyrna Beach, Florida, in 1973, where she and her husband, Paul Kosmas, started a family. Kosmas started a real estate brokerage in 1979, and eventually returned to school, graduating from Stetson University in DeLand, Florida, in 1998. In 1996 Kosmas was elected as a Democrat to the Florida state house of representatives, where she served four consecutive terms until 2004. In the state legislature, she supported increased funding for education and health care. As a member of the minority party in the Florida legislature, Kosmas developed a reputation as a moderate legislator willing to collaborate with members of both parties. In 2008 Kosmas challenged Republican Representative Tom Feeney, the three-term incumbent representing a coastal Florida district that encompassed the Orlando suburbs in Orange and Seminole County; the Kennedy Space Center was a major employer in the district. Feeney’s reputation had been tarnished after he was fined by the House for ethics violations. Kosmas easily won the Democratic primary with 72 percent of the vote and went on to defeat Feeney with a 57 percent majority in the general election.

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