NEWS DESK

    Al Krulick knows he's facing long odds in challenging Bill McCollum, the Longwood Republican seeking his 10th term in Congress while toting a war chest loaded down with special-interests' cash.
    Yet Krulick, an actor, writer, director, producer and occasional Orlando Weekly theater critic, just kicked off his second run at McCollum, winner of the first-ever Golden Leash Award, "created to recognize those legislators who have fallen so deeply into the swamp of special interests that they stand out even in the normal muck of money and influence on Capitol Hill," and given by the group Public Campaign.
    Krulick, a Democrat from Orlando is for campaign-finance reform and universal health care and against escalating military spending and the war on drugs. "It's about the issues," he says. At the same time, he's optimistic of his chances. "You never know what can happen."