Just three days after Kendrick Meek's leading Democratic rival for the U.S. Senate stepped aside, a family friend and colleague in Congress stunned the party establishment and jumped in.

Democratic U.S. Rep. Corrine Brown of Jacksonville said Tuesday that she is forming an ''exploratory committee'' that will allow her to raise money and campaign for the seat currently held by Republican Mel Martinez. He is retiring in 2010.

Brown, along with Meek's mother and Alcee Hastings of Miramar, became the first black members of Congress from Florida since Reconstruction when they were elected together in 1992. Carrie Meek retired in 2002, paving the way for her son to win her seat.

The state's best-known politician, Gov. Charlie Crist, looms as the Republican front-runner.

''If you had asked me a week ago if [Brown would run], I would have been totally shocked,'' Broward Democratic Party Chairman Mitch Ceasar said. ``I'd prefer that we spread out our resources.''

Brown said she has told Meek ''two or three times'' that she was interested in the Senate.

''I like Kendrick a lot, and I love his mother,'' Brown said. ``I've been looking at this Senate seat for a long time.''

Though the 2010 primary is 15 months away, Meek has gotten a big head start. He raised nearly $1.5 million in the first three months of the year, making him the top fundraiser in the House. On Tuesday, he picked up his fifth union endorsement, from the AFL-CIO's Building and Construction Trades.

Brown said she isn't worried about catching up, pointing to a poll she paid for last month that found she and Meek would be tied in a potential matchup.

North Miami Mayor Kevin Burns, a Democrat, and former House Speaker Marco Rubio, a Republican, are also running for the Senate.

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