Republican Geoffrey LaGarde has filed to run in the Orlando-based Congressional District 10 race.
If LaGarde qualifies — and he said he intends to do so by petition — it could force a Republican primary in that district with businesswoman Thuy Lowe of Sorrento.
LaGarde, 34, is a master sergeant in the Air Force Reserves, currently active, working and living in Jacksonville. He said he would move to Orlando if necessary.
He said he entered the CD 10 race earlier this month because he thought it had no Republicans in it. When informed that Lowe had filed to run there in April, he said he would welcome a primary.
The district has been represented by Republicans since U.S. Rep. Daniel Webster of Winter Garden won there in 2010, but the latest redistricting has redrawn it to be a strongly leaning Democratic district now. And Webster moved to Congressional District 11 as a result.
The Democrats running there include former Orlando Police Chief Val Demings, state Sen. Geraldine Thompson, businessman Bob Poe and attorney Fatima Rita Fahmy.