A Detroit News poll of likely Michigan Republican primary voters released on Thursday confirmed the findings of four other polls unveiled earlier in the week, with Rick Santorum leading over Mitt Romney in the GOP's Feb. 28 presidential primary.

Former state House Majority Leader Adam Hasner who is running for Congress unveiled a major endorsement on Thursday -- former Gov. Jeb Bush. "I am proud to endorse my friend Adam Hasner for the U.S. House of Representatives in District 22, Bush said. Adam has a passion for reform and for common-sense conservative solutions, and he will take that passion to a Washington that is certainly in need of both.

Businesses, unions and professional associations that lobby state legislators spent $127 million last year, up from $116 million in 2010, according to the Orlando Sentinel. While AT&T topped the list with $1.68 million, those heading both sides of the destination gaming issue forked up $2.7 million:

Gov. Rick Scott will sign a bill expected to make it easier for Space Florida to access state and federal transportation money to improve launch facilities. A ceremony for the signing of Senate Bill 634, sponsored by Sen. Lizbeth Benacquisto, R-Fort Myers, and Rep. Ritch Workman, R-Melbourne, is scheduled for 11:30 a.m. Thursday in the governors office. Scott has proposed $15 million in state transportation money for spaceport infrastructure improvements.

TrailingRick Santorum in the polls of Michigan, where his father served as governor during the 1960s, Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney unveiled the support of former state Attorney General Mike Cox, former state Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop, three state representatives (two current and one former) and five county GOP chairmen. Michigan holds its primary on Feb. 28

Sunshine State News is hitting the radio airwaves on Wednesday at 2:30 p.m. I will be on the Ed Dean radio show, which is hosted by one of the most feisty, informative and entertaining conservatives in Florida. It can be heard online here and on two stations in Florida -- 89.3 on the west coast and 90.3 on the Atlantic coast.

For an interesting take on Obama vs. the Catholic Church in the United States, check out conservative Catholic columnist George Weigel's piece at National Review Online today.

Gov. Rick Scott has extended the deadline for applicants to replace Michael F. McAuliffe, who is resigning as state attorney for the 15th Circuit, which covers Palm Beach County. Scott has added a week to the application deadline, giving candidates until 5 p.m. Feb. 22 to seek the final 10 months remaining on McAuliffes term.

A fourth poll finds that Republican presidential hopeful Rick Santorum leads the GOP pack in Michigan, which holds its primary on Tuesday, Feb. 28. Santorum tops a Mitchell/Rosetta Stone poll taken by Michigan Information & Research Service with 34 percent. Mitt Romney, who won the Michigan primary in 2008 and whose father served as governor of the Great Lakes State during the 1960s, places second with 25 percent. Ron Paul comes in third with 11 percent followed by Newt Gingrich with 5 percent. Twenty-five percent of those surveyed are undecided.

Sinking in the polls at the national level and in upcoming primary states, Republican presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich looked to stress his social conservatism on Wednesday by announcing his Faith Leaders Dream Team.

Random drug testing of state employees --an effort Gov. Rick Scott sought to impose after he was inaugurated last year --failed to receive the backing of the House Committee on Appropriations on Wednesday. Committee members, even some who voted for the bill, expressed concerns about the constitutionality of conducting drug testing without cause as a condition of state employment.

Leading in the polls in Michigan, Republican presidential hopeful Rick Santorum is taking aim at GOP primary rival Mitt Romney. In a new ad hitting Michigan, the Santorum slam attempts to portray Rombo as a candidate who is trying to hide his liberal record by launching attacks at his rivals.

A bill that would allow public-private partnerships to seek oil or natural gas on state lands may be limited to the western Panhandle. The House Committee on Appropriations gave its backing Wednesday to HB 695, which would authorize a state land-management agency to enter the public-private partnerships on state-owned lands after an amendment was added to limit the search area to lands west of Tallahassee.

Robert Waterhouse, who has been on death row for three decades, is scheduled to be executed at 6 p.m. today (Wednesday) at Florida State Prison in Raiford. Waterhouse, 65, was out on lifetime parole for second-degree murder in New York when he killed a St. Petersburg woman, Deborah Kammerer, in 1980.

A Quinnipiac University poll released Wednesday finds Republican presidential hopeful Rick Santorum has moved ahead of Mitt Romney in the pivotal state of Ohio, which holds its primary on March 6. The poll of likely primary voters has Santorum on top in the Buckeye State with 36 percent, followed by Romney with 29 percent and Newt Gingrich in third with 20 percent. Ron Paul lags in the single digits, taking 9 percent in the poll. However, Ohio Republicans remain up for grabs -- with 50 percent of those surveyed open to changing their minds before the primary.