Even though Gov. Charlie Crist hand-picked him to serve as his running mate in 2006, Lt. Gov. Jeff Kottkamp on Wednesday endorsed Crist's chief opponent in the U.S. Senate race, former House Speaker Marco Rubio.

With less than three weeks until the primaries, four of the six attorney general candidates compared their passion, defined their positions on immigration law and generally pitched their strengths to become the voice of the law in Florida for the next four years.

Incoming Senate President Mike Haridopolos, R-Merritt Island, will have company on his tour of medical facilities across Florida. A key legislative ally will accompany him at some of the events, but he will also have to face nurse practitioners who will ask challenging questions about why they can't write controlled prescriptions.

While Democrats are continuing to defect to independent U.S. Senate candidate Gov. Charlie Crist, U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson is not one of them. Nelson said in an MSNBC interview Tuesday morning that he would back the Democratic nominee in the race, be it U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek or billionaire financier Jeff Greene

With three weeks to go until the primary, Attorney General Bill McCollum is looking to reach out to Hispanic voters in an effort to catch up with health-care executive Rick Scott, front-runner for the Republican gubernatorial nomination.

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, who ran for president in 2008 and since has moved to Florida, came out swinging Monday at the federal judge who struck down aspects of Arizonas new immigration law.

While the political spotlight remains on the close and dramatic contests for the governorship and the open U.S. Senate seat, a number of intriguing contests are shaping up for Florida Senate seats in both primaries and in the general election.

It appears voters in this district in Miami-Dade will be exchanging one Garcia for another. With Sen. Rudy Garcia, R-Hialeah, retiring due to term limits, former Rep. Rene Garcia, a Republican who served in the House for eight years, appears to be cruising back to Tallahassee. Rene Garcia has raised more than $317,000 for the race and has spent almost $136,000. With no Democrat in the race, he will face write-in candidate Alexis Dominguez come November.

With Sen. Alex Diaz de la Portilla, R-Miami, leaving the Senate, voters in this Miami-Dade district will see a familiar name on the ballot -- his brother, Miguel. Miguel Diaz de la Portilla, whohas served on the Miami-Dade County Commission,has put together an impressive campaign so far -- raising almost $491,000 and spending more than $121,000.

Sen. Dan Gelber of Miami Beach is leaving the Senate to run for the Democratic nomination for attorney general and Gwen Margolis is the front-runner to take this seat which represents Broward and Miami-Dade counties.