"Bachmann for President" Communications Director Alice Stewart issued the following response to an endorsement-related statement distributed to South Carolina voters yesterday: "The 'Bachmann for President' campaign has not issued an official statement regarding an endorsement of any current candidate in the GOP race ahead of the South Carolina primary. Any information found to the contrary is inaccurate."

Rick Scott declined to make a prediction about unemployment numbers for December, due Friday from the Department of Economic Opportunity. With his next monthly "report card" looming, and despite receiving daily updates on the jobs placed by state workforce agencies, Scott would only say Thursday that he "hopes" Florida will continue its trend in having the unemployment percentage decrease while the number of private-sector jobs grows.

The American Conservative Union announced Thursday that Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal will be a featured speaker at CPAC 2012 the 39th annual Conservative Political Action Conference. Americas largest gathering of conservative leaders and activists will be Thursday, Feb. 9, to Saturday, Feb. 11, in Washington, D.C. The newly re-elected Jindal had his second-term inauguration this week, following a landslide victory last fall where he swept nearly 70 percent of the Pelican State vote. This will be his first appearance at CPAC.

The Democratic caucuses in the Florida House and Senate released a set of Guiding Principles for the minority party as it works through the 2012 legislative session. It has become clear to Democrats in the Legislature that it is not enough to just speak out against bad ideas and policies, Rep. Rick Kriseman, D-St. Petersburg, stated in a release.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry is conducting a news conference in South Carolina at this hour to announce he is suspending his campaign for the Republican nomination. He endorsed former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich, if with some reluctance. "Newt is not perfect," Perry said, "but who among us is?" Perry called his decision to suspend the campaign a "strategic retreat," possibly hinting at plans for a future bid.

The Senate Banking and Insurance Committee gave first backing for a Florida Chamber of Commerce- and Florida Insurance Council-backed bill to cap how much medical offices could charge when dispensing medication prescribed by an on-site physician.

Gov. Rick Scott says he hasnt watched "Saturday Night Live" since he was in law school, but hes found hes been drawn to the recent spoofs of the numerous Republican presidential debates. "Poor Rick Perry, Scott said of the Texas governor, while speaking before about 70 members of the Florida Retail Federation at the Hotel Duval Thursday morning. Scott said hes been recording the shows to watch the mock of the debates.

On a day that Barack Obama visits Florida, national and state Republican leaders contrasted the president's performance with the work accomplished by Gov. Rick Scott. "Rick Scott is doing a good job -- he's serious about debt and about jobs while the president is blowing sunshine around the world," Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus said in a conference call Thursday morning. Republican Party of Florida Chairman Lenny Curry said there is "a disconnect" between the governor's policies and his poll numbers.

Below, from Data.com, is a list of the wealthiest 30 counties by average income in the country. Twenty-two of the 30 voted Democrat in the last presidential election. Debunks the Republicans being the party of the rich, don't you think? New York, N.Y. $120,790 DEMOCRAT.Loving, Texas $99,593.Pitkin, Colo. $93,465 DEMOCRAT.

A CNN/Time poll unveiled on Wednesday afternoon finds former Gov. Mitt Romney leading the pack of Republican presidential candidates in South Carolina, which holds its primary Saturday.

A new CNN/Time poll unveiled on Wednesday afternoon finds former Gov. Mitt Romney well on his way to winning the Florida Republican presidential primary Jan. 31.

The attorney generals office reports that a 29-year-old Bradenton man received a 26-year sentence Wednesday for trafficking in oxycodone and conspiracy to traffic in oxycodone. Sentenced by the 12th Judicial Circuit of Florida, Lapar Conley was convicted in December on the charges that were associated with JW Wellness, a pain clinic in Tampa. The clinic was one of seven the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office, the Florida Department of Health, the Hillsborough County Consumer Protection Agency and Hillsborough County Code Enforcement closed last March.

Florida Senate President Mike Haridopolos, R-Merritt Island, announced on Wednesday that he is backing former Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts for the Republican presidential nomination.

The James Madison Institute, a prominent think tank in Tallahassee that backs free-market solutions and a limited government, has joined on to the constitutional challenge launched by Florida and 25 other states against the health-care law backed by President Barack Obama. The U.S. Supreme Court will hear the case later this year. JMI filed an amicus brief arguing that the Medicaid expenses affiliated with the Affordable Care Act will damage the states.

Republican Congressman Connie Mack, who is running in the GOP primary to challenge Democrat U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, weighed in on the incumbent avoiding President Barack Obamas appearance at the Magic Kingdom on Thursday. "Is Senator Nelson running from the president he has been in lockstep with 98 percent of the time, or embracing the notion that announcing another, revised economic plan in Fantasyland could possibly be rooted in reality?" Mack asked in a statement sent to Sunshine State News.