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Suzanne Kosmas (née McDonald; born February 25, 1944) is the former U.S. representative for , serving one term from 2009 until 2011. She is a member of the Democratic Party. She previously served in the Florida House of Representatives from 1996 to 2004.
Kosmas focused her campaign on economic development, education, juvenile crime, and healthcare. On education, Kosmas emphasized her support for reducing class sizes, accountability for local school districts, and on creating alternative learning environments for disruptive children to develop home-grown solutions could help address the issue. She noted her concern that, while violent crime was decreasing, juvenile crime was increasing, and argued that reducing truancy, using the educational system to identify at-risk children, and working with community leaders to develop home-grown solutions could help address the issue.
Chiles repeatedly visited the district to campaign for Kosmas, arguing that Ascherl left large shoes to fill and that she had the leadership credentials to replace him. Kosmas was also endorsed by the Orlando Sentinel, which argued that she had "a much sharper understanding of issues" than Cooper and that her "extensive hands-on community-service experience" was better-suited than his, and by the Daytona Beach News-Journal, which concluded that she was "extraordinarily well-versed on key issues" and was "much more in touch than Cooper with the needs of the community." The News-Journal also criticized the attack ads that Cooper ran against Kosmas—which called her "Volusia County's Biggest Fraud" and accused her of being a "tax cheat" and a "business fraud"—as "the nastiest and most deceptive ads" in that year's elections. Ultimately, Kosmas ended up narrowly defeating Cooper, winning her first term in the legislature 52–48%, by a little more than 2,000 votes.
In 2000, Kosmas ran for re-election against former Volusia County School Board Member Deborah Denys, who focused her campaign on her support for charter schools and school vouchers. Kosmas argued that she was an independent legislator and that Denys would vote as "a rubber stamp for the leadership that's already there. She focused on her support for public schools and campaigned against Denys's proposal to provide public funds for private school vouchers, and noted her opposition to abortion regulations. Ultimately, despite the perceived closeness of the race, along with the closeness of the presidential race in Florida, Kosmas vastly improved on her margin of victory over Denys, winning her third term 57–43%.
Due to term limits, Kosmas ran for her fourth and final term in 2002, and she faced Denys once again. Even though her district became more Republican-leaning after redistricting, Kosmas staked out a big fundraising lead over Denys and drew on her popularity in the district. Denys attacked Kosmas for opposing the right to fly the American flag, opposing classrooms displaying the Constitution, and supporting providing drivers licenses to foreign nationals. She argued that the attacks were inaccurate and misstated her record. Ultimately, despite the changes to the district and Governor Jeb Bush's landslide re-election, Kosmas won re-election by a wide margin, receiving 55% of the vote to Denys's 42% and Libertarian nominee Mary Morelly's 3%. When Kosmas was term-limited in 2004, she was succeeded by Republican Dorothy Hukill.
In 2008, Kosmas campaigned on issues such as fiscal conservatism, support for veterans, and values like integrity and transparency. Independent expenditure ads attacked Feeney for his ties to Jack Abramoff, and Feeney's own ad released six weeks prior to the election exacerbated the negative public perception. "mea culpa" television ad
In the November election, Kosmas won, taking 57% of the vote to Feeney's 41% — the largest margin of defeat for a Republican incumbent in the 2008 cycle.
Kosmas was defeated for re-election by former State Representative Sandy Adams on Nov. 2, 2010 by a 60% to 40% margin. Ironically, two years after handing Feeney the largest margin of defeat for a Republican incumbent in the 2008 cycle, Kosmas herself lost by the second-largest margin of any Democratic incumbent in the 2010 cycle, after Chet Edwards of Texas.
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