Former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich is leading the Republican pack of presidential candidates in Iowa. He released a commercial this weekend that will be hitting the airwaves in the Hawkeye State, which holds its caucus in less than a month.

Businesswoman Karen Harrington ran against U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz in 2010 and is hoping for a rematch in 2012. Over the weekend, Harrington unveiled the backing of Republican presidential hopeful U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota. I am encouraging you to get behind Karen Harrington, said Bachmann. This is an extremely important district, and it has the potential to have a tremendous change in the course of our history. I can think of no one better than Karen Harrington to come to Washington and get the job done.

Congressman Tom Rooney, R-Tequesta, is once again marking what is seen as the end of General Electrics engine program for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, saying the termination of the duplicate engine could help Palm Beach County and Florida jobs. GE Aviation announced Friday that it was giving up on the backup engine that the U.S. House voted to halt funding for in February. GE Aviation, working with Rolls Royce, had tried to keep the engine program operational using its own money.

Gov. Rick Scott named three to the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws on Tuesday, according to a release from the governor's office: Donald J. Weidner, 66, of Tallahassee, is dean of the Florida State University College of Law. He succeeds Nicholas W. Romanello and is appointed for a term beginning Nov. 29, 2011, and ending June 5, 2015.

Two reports out in the past couple of weeks havent been kind to Floridas efforts to create a more business-friendly climate. Florida landed in 24th place on Forbes' The Best States for Business. Utah, Virginia, North Carolina, North Dakota and Colorado topped the Forbes list, while Mississippi, Michigan, Rhode Island, Hawaii and Maine were at the bottom end.

Gov. Rick Scott and Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll have penciled in the Miami Dolphins-Oakland Raiders game at Sun Life Stadium on Sunday from 12:15 p.m.-3:30 p.m., according to the daily schedule released from the governors office. Carroll's son is Dolphins cornerback Nolan Carroll.

In a surreal scene, GOP candidate Herman Cain suspended his presidential bid outside his newly opened campaign headquarters in Atlanta on Saturday. Scourging the media, Cain said he was exiting the "dirty game," but vowed to stay active through a new political site: CainSolutions.com. "Plan A was the presidency. Now we're going to change things from the outside," he told a modest crowd of supporters.

The Florida Senate staff has released district descriptions for the proposed redrawn and two additional congressional lines. The House is expected to release its draft of the district lines on Dec. 6. District 1 Includes Escambia, Santa Rosa, Okaloosa, Walton, and western Holmes County. The Legislature received several submissions that proposed a district with a similar orientation in the Panhandle. District 2

Gov. Rick Scott supported the decision by James Ammons, Florida A&M University president, to postpone a planned task force as two investigations are underway into the actions of the Marching 100 band. When something like this happens, what we ought to be doing is make sure it doesn't happen again, Scott said Friday in the Capitol.

Does Newt think he can compete for Hispanic voters (legal and illegal) who have supported Barack Obama? He's sure trying. The former House speaker's "humane" musings on illegal immigrants made Mitt Romney look like a solid, rock-ribbed conservative at the recent GOP presidential debate. Now comes an analysis from the Center for Immigration Studies that puts Gingrich in the same company as John McCain, George W. Bush and Teddy Kennedy. Needless to say, it's not overly complimentary.

The Florida Senate and House have reached their first deal on redistricting. The House will concentrate on the new lines that the Senate proposed for Senate districts. The Senate will work on the new lines that will be proposed by the House for new House districts. Both chambers will still have to work out a compromise for the congressional lines. On Friday, House Redistricting Committee Chairman Will Weatherford, R-Wesley Chapel, accepted the redistricting proposal from his counterpart in the Senate, Sen. Don Gaetz, R-Niceville.

Gov. Rick Scott said he turned down free coffee from Starbucks as he spent his 59th birthday on Thursday in Orlando, Everywhere I went they knew it was my birthday. I never had that before, Scott said, meeting with reporters outside his office in the Capitol on Friday. (See video here.) I stopped in a Starbucks and they knew it was my birthday, he added. They offered, but I didnt accept it.

A 60 Minutes piece on widespread homelessness in Florida helped spur a pair of state legislators to file a bill that would allow people to donate $1 to homeless programs when registering vehicles and renewing driver licenses. Sen. Ronda Storms, R-Valrico, and State Rep. Betty Reed, D-Tampa, filed similar bills this week -- SB 1130 and HB 531 -- in their respective chambers, that seek to raise awareness and funding to help combat homelessness.

Gov. Rick Scott joined law enforcement for the annual reminder that troopers will be out in force searching for drunk and impaired drivers through winter holiday season. Scott, during an announcement in the Capitol rotunda of this years enforcement effort, said drunk driving arrests and crashes have decreased the past four years, but more needs to be done. The message appears to be reaching everyone, Scott said.

Republican presidential hopeful former Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts added to his team in Iowa, which holds the first presidential contest in less than five weeks, when he announced on Friday that former Gov. Robert Ray was endorsing his bid.