Former Gov. Claude Kirk, the colorful businessman who was Floridas first Republican governor since Reconstruction, died Wednesday at his home in West Palm Beach. He was 85.

Born in California in 1926, Kirk served in the U.S. Marine Corps in World War II and the Korean War. After attending the University of Alabama School of Law, Kirk founded the American Heritage Life Insurance Co. in Jacksonville.

After clashing in a debate in Orlando on Thursday night, the two leading candidates for the Republican presidential nomination to challenge President Barack Obama in 2012 -- Gov. Rick Perry of Texas and former Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts -- continued to pound away at each other this week with new attack ads.

While Texas Gov. Rick Perry stumbled atthe Republican Party of Floridas Presidency 5 debate in Orlando on Thursday night, a national poll released on Monday found he still led the pack of candidates for the Republican presidential nomination.

The CNN/ORC International Poll, which was taken from Friday through Sunday, found Perry in front with 30 percent, followed by former Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts with 22 percent. Former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich placed third with 11 percent.