Patty Weiss ends weeks of speculation by filing today.

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Former news anchor Patty Weiss today will officially join the crowded field of Democrats hoping to succeed Republican Rep. Jim Kolbe in Congress.

Prompted by what she considers a high level of voter support, Weiss will end weeks of speculation by filing as a candidate with the Federal Election Commission.

But Democratic and Republican contenders eyeing the seat Kolbe has all but owned for the past two decades won't need to concern themselves with one potentially formidable obstacle: Surgeon General Richard Carmona.

Weiss said support for her candidacy is evident in a new poll she commissioned showing she is not only popular among Democrats, but Republicans and independents as well.

"It is a lovely feeling to know that people know me and trust me," the longtime KVOA personality said. "But it's just a starting point. I know that there is a lot of hard work ahead."

Among the hurdles Weiss needs to clear is surviving a tough primary battle against at least six fellow Democrats.

Although Republicans have often mentioned Carmona, a Tucson doctor and former SWAT team member, as a possible candidate, he announced Tuesday that he has no plans to abandon the Bush administration.

Exiting "the Office of Surgeon General now for any reason would not be in our nation's best interest," he wrote in a letter to the Arizona Daily Star.

That leaves Randy Graf and Mike Jenkins to duke it out in the GOP primary. Graf, a former state lawmaker from Green Valley, was in Phoenix on Thursday to unveil endorsements from 25 of his one-time Capitol colleagues and U.S. Rep. Trent Franks, a Glendale Republican.

In his 2004 challenge to Kolbe, Graf earned a respectable 43 percent of the vote in Southeastern Arizona's 8th Congressional District. But he could be vulnerable this year, according to the poll that gauged Weiss's popularity. It showed Weiss beating Graf in a head-to-head matchup by seven percentage points.

"Polls can say a lot things," Graf said. "I was in the golf business for a long time and every golf ball manufacturer has the longest ball."

Jenkins, a one-time candidate for Tucson City Council, also dismissed the poll's relevance, attributing Weiss' strong showing to the fact that she is well-known from years on television.

Conducted by Lake Research Partners, a Washington, D.C.-based firm that has done polling for Gov. Janet Napolitano, the poll was paid for by the Weiss campaign. It surveyed 350 registered voters between Jan. 4-8 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 5 percent.

The poll found that Weiss has a favorable rating of 65 percent among Democrats, 48 percent among independents and 41 percent among Republicans.

Even though Weiss commissioned the poll, pollster David Mermin said he has no doubt about its veracity. "We work for candidates to give them the best strategic advice," he said. "We would give them lousy strategic advice if we did a biased poll."

Still, the Democrats Weiss will face in the September primary echoed Jenkins when asked about the poll.

"This was a name-recognition poll," said Jeff Latas, a former Air Force pilot and Gulf War veteran who was among the first candidates in the race.

"I could have paid thousands of dollars for a similar poll with a slant toward national security and I think it would be obvious who would have the advantage."

Other Democrats in the running include Gabrielle Giffords, Eva Bacal, Alex Rodriguez, Francine Shacter and David Grant.

Kolbe announced in November that he would not seek a 12th term.