Following in Congressman Kendrick Meek's footsteps once again, state Sen. Frederica Wilson -- and her signature sequined hats -- appear to be heading to Washington in November.

Wilson on Tuesday defeated the eight other Democratic candidates vying to represent Florida's 17th Congressional District, a safe Democratic seat that runs from Overtown to Miami Gardens and Pembroke Pines.

Results were close as expected in the packed field, which included four Haitian-born candidates in a district with the largest Haitian-American population in the country.

But the four Haitian Americans appeared to split the vote among them, and Wilson led the race in both Miami-Dade and Broward counties.

Wilson ran a campaign relying largely on her long-standing network of supporters and seasoned volunteers, who fanned across polling places Tuesday wearing matching straw hats and Wilson's traditional campaign colors, sky blue and white.

She likely also benefited from having Meek on the ballot in a tough primary for U.S. Senate: While Meek did not back anyone to replace him, in the past Wilson took the seats he vacated in the Florida House and Senate.

``I am on cloud nine,'' said Wilson, 68, who celebrated Tuesday night at Chef Creole Seasoned Kitchen in Miami Gardens. ``I'm dancing with all my friends and my grandchildren and my family and my sorority sisters and all of my poll workers. I'm just having a great time.''

Wilson will face lawyer Roderick Vereen in November. Vereen -- who is running without party affiliation, though he first opened a campaign account as a Democrat -- will face an uphill climb running without party support and less name recognition than Wilson, a former public school principal and Miami-Dade School Board member.

``I've worked for her for years because she's true,'' said Lauren Boykin, who volunteered for Wilson outside the North Dade Regional Library in Miami Gardens around noon Tuesday. ``She's a staple in the community, and she'll fight -- and you know that.''

In the primary, Wilson defeated activist Marleine Bastien, former state Rep. Phillip Brutus, state Rep. James Bush III, North Miami Councilman Scott Galvin, Miami Gardens Mayor Shirley Gibson, physician Rudy Moise, state Rep. Yolly Roberson and Miami Gardens Councilman André Williams.

KLEIN, WESTFarther north, Democratic U.S. Rep. Ron Klein of Boca Raton and Republican Allen West, a Tea Party favorite, were both coasting to expected victories in their respective primaries to represent a district that includes parts of Broward and Palm Beach counties. The two have already been locked in a tight race in which both sides have raised millions of dollars.

Karen Harrington, Robert Lowry and Donna Milo were locked in a tighter race for the Republican nod to join two no-party-affiliated candidates and a write-in to challenge Democratic U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Weston, who did not draw a primary opponent.

UNOPPOSEDAlso unopposed were Democrat Alcee Hastings of Miramar and Republican Ileana Ros-Lehtinen of Miami, though both have challengers in the general election.

There were no surprises in the primary results for the 25th Congressional District, though the general election race will be hotly contested as Democrats try to pick up the seat being vacated by Republican Congressman Mario Diaz-Balart, who was automatically elected to the more GOP-friendly seat left open by his brother, Lincoln, who is retiring.

On the Democratic side, Joe Garcia, the former director of the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Minority Economic Impact, defeated Luis Meurice, a longshoreman and South Florida AFL-CIO leader. Also winning was Republican state Rep. David Rivera, over lawyer Marili Cancio and former Marine Paul Crespo.

Besides squaring off against each other, Rivera and Garcia -- who have already clashed on immigration, spending and Cuba -- will face candidates from the Whig and Tea parties in November as they seek to represent the vast district that includes western Miami-Dade and eastern Collier counties.

OTHER RACESElsewhere in the state, Panhandle Democratic U.S. Rep. Allen Boyd looked poised to stem off a strong primary challenge from state Sen. Al Lawson of Tallahassee. In Central Florida, former state Sen. Dan Webster topped a crowded GOP field to take on U.S. Rep. Alan Grayson, the controversial Democrat representing a historically Republican district, in November.

Still too close to call late in the evening was the Republican primary to take on Democratic U.S. Rep. Suzanne Kosmas of Daytona Beach, whose seat, like Grayson's, has been targeted as a possible GOP pickup.

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