Surging in the polls, former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich took his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination to Jacksonville on Thursday.

Despite being written off for dead earlier in the year when he faced a staff exodus and took aim at the Republican congressional budgetary plan backed by U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., Gingrich is now at the top of the polls after a series of strong debate performances.

Florida Republican U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio has been on Washingtons center stage this week, pushing a compromise jobs bill that he is backing with a Democratic senator -- but also lashing out at President Barack Obamas record on the economy.

Rubio joined up with U.S. Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., on Tuesday to introduce the American Growth, Recovery, Empowerment and Entrepreneurship Act and they spoke for the measure on the Senate floor on Wednesday.

Former state House Majority Leader Adam Hasner, now running in a crowded Republican primary to see who will emerge to challenge Democratic U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson in 2012, looked to highlight his right-of-center credentials as he reached out to conservative bloggers and media on Wednesday.

My focus remains on the fact that our country is headed in the wrong direction, said Hasner, who insisted he is a proven fighter who has stood for conservative values in the Florida House and on the campaign trail.

While businessman Herman Cain was soaring in the polls after his upset win in the Presidency 5 straw poll in Orlando back in September, three new polls show he is losing ground in his bid for the Republican presidential nomination and former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich is gaining momentum.

The campaign behind Republican presidential hopeful former Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts unveiled its team to reach out to social and religious conservatives in the Sunshine State on Monday.

While Romney has take socially liberal positions in the past -- notably during his two statewide bids for elected office in Massachusetts in 1994 and 2002 -- his supporters insist he now stands with social conservatives against abortion and in favor of the role of religion in the public square.