With little suspense, Florida GOP Party leaders re-elected Lenny Curry as chairman of the Republican Party of Florida on Saturday at the Rosen Centre Hotel in Orlando. Despite a difficult election cycle in 2012, Curry faced no opposition, in part because he was able to bring the partys fiscal books back in order.

Gov. Rick Scott named Keith A. Carsten, a partner with the Orlando firm of Carsten & Ladan, to the 9th Judicial Circuit. Carsten, 41, had served as an assistant state attorney for the circuit from 1998 to 2001, before heading into private practice. Keith has proven to be a skillful attorney in Orlando and has demonstrated an extensive knowledge of the law, Scott stated in a release. He is going to bring that same knowledge with him to the 9th Judicial Circuit bench.

With a new district that is now focused on the western side of the state, U.S. Rep. Tom Rooney, R-Charlotte, will open his Punta Gorda district office with a ceremonial swearing-in on Tuesday. Rooney, whose District 16 that he held for four years stretched from northern Palm Beach County to Charlotte, now holds District 17, which was made up mostly of the western half of his old district after last years redistricting.

U.S. Reps. Mario Diaz-Balart, R-Miami, and Alcee Hastings, D-Miramar, have reintroduced the Congressional Everglades Caucus for the 113th Congress. The caucus, with Diaz-Balart and Hastings as co-chairs, is to educate members and their staff on issues related to the Everglades, according to a release. Diaz Balart comment:

U.S. Rep. Ted Yoho, R-Fla., issued a statement Thursday evening defending his vote for U.S. Rep. Eric Cantor, R-Va., for speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, against incumbent and re-electee John Boehner. Many conservatives and libertarians from within the Republican Party have lambasted Boehner for what they believe to be his compromise on key party principles.

Anti-gun folks aren't going to like this, but facts are facts. These come from the FBI via Breibart.com and Fox Nation. Seems more people are killed with hammers and clubs each year than with rifles. By far. Check out the numbers from 2005 through 2011:

Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Miami, announced he has been named, for the second consecutive Congress, to serve on the Committee on Foreign Relations, the Select Committee on Intelligence, the Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation and the Small Business Committee.Im honored to continue my service on the Foreign Relations, Intelligence, Commerce and Small Business committees for the 113th Congress," Rubio stated in the release.

Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi andFlorida Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA)Secretary Liz Dudek on Thursday jointly released the annual Medicaid Fraud and Abuse Report. A few of the highlights include: Return on Investment: For every $1 spent to prevent fraud andabuse or to recover Medicaid funds due to fraud and abuse, the state ofFlorida gains $6.80.

Independent pollster Scott Rasmussen says voters are evenly divided in their views of the last-minute fiscal cliff deal reached by President Obama and Congress. But he says very few expect government spending to go down as a result; and one out of two predicts taxes on the middle class will go up.

Here's some respite for Tallahassee and Washington watchers temporarily fed up with post-election politics: "StoneZone's Sixth Annual Ten Best and Worst Dressed Men and Women in the World for 2012"(Huffington Post). Definitely a nonpartisan undertaking. Trust dapper Roger Stone, indeed a legendary American Republican political consultant, to suck us so engagingly into his second (or is it his first?) greatest passion, sartorial elegance.

After meeting Wednesday with business leaders, Gov. Rick Scott will be on TV Thursday morning in Fort Myers. Scott is scheduled to appear on WINK NEWS between 6:25 a.m. and 6:55 a.m., and on NBC-2 between 7:20 a.m. and 7:35 a.m. He is also scheduled to meet with a Naples Daily News reporter in Fort Myers around 8 a.m.

Two Florida pols who lost their last elections apparently have been hired to put some lipstick on another election loser -- Charlie Crist. In trying to build his team in Democratic stronghold Broward County, Crist has called on former state Sen. Steve Geller of Cooper City and former Attorney General Bob Butterworth. The idea is to gussy up the former governor and failed U.S. Senate candidate for a 2014 gubernatorial run against Gov. Rick Scott.

U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Orlando, released a statement Wednesday on Senate Bill 8, the fiscal cliff deal. It was something we had to do to keep the country from going over the fiscal cliff and to prevent income taxes from going up for more than 95 percent of folks. Now weve got to finish the job of fixing our countrys financial ills with more targeted spending cuts and reforming our tax code.

Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi released a statement Wednesday joining President Barack Obama inrecognizing January as National Slavery and Human Trafficking PreventionMonth. Raising awareness about the prevalence of human trafficking is a crucialcomponent to combating this $32 billion industry that exploits women,children and men, Bondi stated in a press release. I remain dedicatedto doing everything within my power to make Florida a zero-tolerance statefor human trafficking.

The state has created a website that lists seven opportunities for wounded veterans to hunt -- for deer, hog or turkey -- on state lands between Jan. 11 and April 18. Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam announced Wednesday the hunting opportunities as part of the Florida Forest Services Operation Outdoor Freedom program.