With Illinois holding its primary on Tuesday, Louisiana, which will have 46 delegates at the GOP convention in Tampa, is next in line with a primary on Saturday. This primary is shaping up to be the most important GOP presidential battle in the Pelican State since 1996, when Pat Buchanan effectively set himself up as the conservative alternative to Bob Dole by crushing Phil Gramm in the Louisiana caucus, which was actually held before Iowa in that election cycle.

It is way, way too early for this, but Chris Cillizza over at WaPos The Fix is offering his own version of the Sweet 16 for 2016-- with two prominent Florida Republicans in the mix for their partys nomination that year. U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio starts off as the top seed while former Gov. Jeb Bush is in the fourth seed.

Gov. Rick Scott has asked Florida Department of Law Enforcement Commissioner Gerald Bailey to assist the 18th Judicial Circuit state attorneys office with the investigation of the death of Trayvon Martin.

Gov. Rick Scott named Matthew M. Carter to the Board of Governors of the State University System on Monday. Carter, a senior staff director in the Florida Senate since 2010, previously served on the Public Service Commission from 2006 to 2009, as chairman for two years.

Gov. Rick Scott on Monday signed HB 1205, which would require 10 percent of state workers to submit to random drug testing once every three months, the governor's office announced Monday night. The bill would also remove provisions that currently prohibit a state agency from firing an employee for failing the test. The law goes into effect July 1, the start of the next fiscal year. The bill does not require state lawmakers to be tested. State economists could not offer estimates on how much the testing will impact the budget.

Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections Susan Bucher did it again. She found a way to make an election aftermath scary-memorable. Last Tuesday's election in Wellington is a mess, all races were tabulated incorrectly and guess what? They've already been certified. They're a done deal. Voters who thought they were casting a ballot for the mayor, actually voted for a council seat 1 candidate; those who voted for the council seat 1 candidate didn't realize they were selecting for council seat 4; as for the mayor -- he got the council seat 4 votes.

The potential for Sen. David Simmons, R-Maitland, to end up in the same district with Senate Majority Leader Andy Gardiner, R-Orlando, may not come to be if a proposal Monday from Sen. Jack Latvala goes forward.

A Democratic candidate for the 6th Congressional District isn't getting much love from his own party. Vipin Verma, a Dayton Beach attorney, announced his campaign last year to little fanfare. By contrast, Heather Beaven's entry into the race last week triggered a news release from the Florida Democratic Party and glowing words of encouragement from Chairman Rod Smith. In comments that sounded as if Beaven were the only Democrat in the hunt, Smith, speaking for the party, said, "Were confident shell have the resources she needs to win."

Florida Power & Light Co. has, as expected, filed for a base rate increase on Monday that, if approved later this year by state regulators, could mean a $2.48 a month hike for the typical residential customers. The typical customer uses 1,000 kilowatts a month, which currently comes with a monthly charge of $94.62.

ESPN isn't hedging its bets. The sports network confidently says Peyton Manning is negotiating a contract with the Denver Broncos and the team will attempt to trade Tim Tebow. Period.

With the news that former Indianapolis Colt's quarterback Peyton Manning will almost certainly be wearing the Denver Broncos orange and blue this coming season, should Floridas golden boy Tim Tebow, who dazzled fans and drove TV ratings all season with his late-game heroics, return to the state where he won his Heisman? Vote here...

The Christian Family Coalition announced today that Gov. Rick Scott "has already agreed to sign" Senate Bill 98, the so-called school prayer bill. That was news to the governor's office, which told Sunshine State News that Scott has yet to decide which way to go on the legislation that would authorize student-led "inspirational messages." "Governor Scott has said he will review the bill and make a decision. He hasnt made a decision yet," said press secretary Lane Wright.

U.S. Rep. Sandy Adams, already engaged in a contentious Republican primary fight against U.S. Rep. John Mica, announced on Monday she is backing restaurant owner Karen Harrington in the Republican primary to challenge U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, the chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee.

I talk a lot about what mainstream media do wrong, so I don't want to forget to point it out when one among them does something right. Scripps Treasure Coast Newspapers -- the newspaper group that includes The Stuart News, The Port St. Lucie News, The Fort Pierce Tribune and the Vero Beach Press-Journal -- produced an editorial on Monday applauding state Rep. Debbie Mayfield, R-Vero Beach for saving Florida taxpayers $41.8 million.

President Barack Obama's performance during last summer's debt negotiations was fraught with incompetence, arrogance and outright lying, the Washington Post reports. In a dissection of the high-stakes bargaining in Washington, the Post details how Obama repeatedly shifted positions and then misrepresented the position of House Speaker John Boehner and other Republicans by claiming in a speech that the GOP leaders refused to budge on the issue of tax increases.