In news that won't come as a shock to anyone, U.S. Rep. Jeff Miller, R-Fla., has endorsed Republican candidate Mike Hill of Pensacola in the Florida House District 2 special election.

Over Memorial Day weekend, Florida Republican U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, the chairwoman of the House Middle East and North Africa Subcommittee, led a congressional delegation to Afghanistan and to the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Other members of the delegation included Texas Republicans Michael Burgess and Blakem Farenthood, California Democrat Ami Bera and Massachusetts Democrat Joseph Kennedy. The delegation met with members of the armed forces, President Hamid Karazi of Afghanistan, and State Department and Drug Enforcement Administration officials.

A new Rasmussen Reports Poll shows most voters oppose President Obamas plan to bring Guantanamo prisoners to U.S. soil. The poll found 53 percent of respondents opposed bringing Guantanamo inmates back to the U.S. in order to close the prison camp in Cuba. Only 27 percent said theyd support such a plan.

According to a study from the University of Florida released Tuesday, consumer confidence rose this month in Florida and is now higher than it has been since August 2007. The study found consumer confidence rose 2 points to 81 in May. The last time confidence was this high was August of 2007 when it was 82, shortly before the Great Recession began, said Chris McCarty, director of UFs Survey Research Center in the Bureau of Economic and Business Research, on Tuesday.

Dr. Stephen Leatherman, better known as Dr. Beach, is a professor at Florida International University who is known for ranking the top 10 beaches in America each Memorial Day. This year, Dr. Beach named two Florida state parks -- Dr. Julian G. Bruce St. George Island State Park and Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park -- on his list. Needless to say, the Florida State Park system is trumpeting the news.

On Tuesday, at a ceremony in West Palm Beach, Gov. Rick Scott signed into law HB 7065, sponsored by Rep. Matt Caldwell, R-Lehigh Acres, to provide $32 million a year to fund Everglades restoration.

Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin was in Iowa, home of the first presidential caucus, late last week to give a speech to the state GOP. Already something of a Republican folk hero for standing up to government employee unions and crushing an effort to remove him from office, Walker earned high marks from Republicans across Iowa for his speech. The Hill has the details on Walkers trip to Iowa and the reaction from state Republicans.

With the Memorial Day weekend over, summer has begun -- and so has the 2014 gubernatorial campaign. On Monday, the Republican Party of Florida (RPOF) took aim at former Gov. Charlie Crist who is the front-runner for the Democratic nomination. With a look at the former governors Cristory, the RPOF took Crist to task for raising taxes and fees by $2.2 billion back in 2009 in a new Web video.

Former Congressman Allen West floated a trial balloon at the end of last week, creating buzz that he will set his sights on a political comeback in 2016.Appearing on the Tammy Bruce radio show on Friday, the Florida Republican made it clear that he was open to running for office again despite losing to Democrat Patrick Murphy in November.

Former Rep. Scott Plakon is getting the support of the Republican leadership in Tallahassee as he looks to return to Tallahassee by defeating Rep. Mike Clelland, D-Longwood, in 2014.

For the second time in as many days, the Republican Party of Florida (RPOF) is focusing on long shot Democratic gubernatorial hopeful Nan Rich.

Wrappingup leading a trade mission to Chile, Gov. Rick Scott announced on Friday that Atton Hotels -- which currently has properties in Chile and Peru -- will launch their first site in the United States in Miami come 2015. Bringing in $55 million from investments and creating 170 new direct jobs, Atton will open the hotel in downtown Miami.

U.S. Rep. Tom Rooney, R-Fla., appeared on Fox News on Friday morning, arguing that the Fort Hood attack should be classified as a terrorist attack. Rooney noted that he served at Fort Hood and went through the details of the attack. While so far the Army refused to classify the attack as terrorism, Rooney said he remains optimistic due to comments from President Barack Obama. I dont think this is over by any means, Rooney said.

Former state Sen. Dan Gelber, best known for being the Democratic attorney general who lost to Pam Bondi in 2010, is slamming Gov. Rick Scott for accepting campaign contributions from Heritage Property Insurance and Casualty Insurance -- and raising his own profile in the process.

Florida Republican U.S. Rep. Ander Crenshaw, who serves on the House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, represents parts of the First Coast, an area with close ties to the military. On Memorial Day, Crenshaw will be speaking in downtown Jacksonville at the Veterans Wall ceremony before heading to a wreath-laying ceremony at the Jacksonville National Cemetery.