Health care executive Rick Scott has hit the campaign trail. The Republican gubernatorial candidate, now leading in the polls over Attorney General Bill McCollum for the GOP nomination, campaigned through the Panhandle over the weekend, hit Bartow on Monday and will speak in Tallahassee on Thursday.
With Rep. Pat Patterson, R-DeLand, term-limited and running an underdog campaign for the Republican state CFO nomination, a battle is developing to replace him in the 26th District House seat with serious candidates from both parties in the mix.
Four candidates have emerged in the district, which stretches across Flagler and Volusia Counties, west of Daytona Beach. The district includes Lake Helen, Orange City, De Leon Springs and parts of DeLand.
On Monday former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, best known for his stab at the 2008 Republican presidential nomination and widely considered a candidate for the GOP nod in 2012, backed Attorney General Bill McCollum for governor and offered endorsements for other Sunshine State Republicans.
Gov. Charlie Crists veto of HB 1143, a measure requiring women considering having an abortion in the first trimester of pregnancy to have an ultrasound, led to like-minded reactions from the governors rivals in a tight contest for the open U.S. Senate seat in November.
While Gov. Charlie Crist and gubernatorial candidate Bud Chiles are getting most of the attention, Florida is seeing a large number of independents taking on both the Democrats and Republicans in the 2010 elections.
Its exciting, said Michael Tupper, campaign manager for independent congressional candidate Troy Stanley who has offered a conservative challenge to veteran Republican U.S. Rep. Ander Crenshaw.
A week after announcing that he was planning to run for governor, independent candidate Bud Chiles, son of Florida political icon and long-time U.S. senator and governor Lawton Chiles, kicks off his campaign Saturday morning in Lakeland -- with his fathers legacy front and center.
According to a poll Quinnipiac University released on Thursday morning, two outsiders with backgrounds in business instead of politics have shaken up Floridas political landscape.
Two polls released Wednesday on the Florida gubernatorial race show that health care executive Rick Scott is now posting larger numbers than fellow Republican Attorney General Bill McCollum against state CFO Alex Sink, the leading Democrat running for governor.
Two new polls taken during the first week of June show that independent Gov. Charlie Crist is engaged in a close battle with Republican former House Speaker Marco Rubio for the U.S. Senate seat once held by Mel Martinez. Either of the two leading Democratic candidates place a distant third, according to the polls.
A new Rasmussen Reports poll taken June 7 and released Wednesday had Rubio and Crist tied with 37 percent of the vote, while Democratic hopeful Kendrick Meek trails with 15 percent.
Attorney General Bill McCollums lawsuit against the federal government for new health care laws backed by President Barack Obama is getting the support of former New York Gov. George Pataki who has been active in the political fight of repealing the new laws.
