Florida Republicans are showing a lot of love for two GOP presidential hopefuls from Georgia. Neither businessman Herman Cain nor former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich is expected to win the Presidency 5 straw poll in Orlando on Saturday -- but its clear both candidates from the Peach State are popular among the party faithful in Florida.

Ted Yoho, a businessman and veterinarian from Gainesville, has been one of the more active candidates at the Republican Party of Floridas Presidency 5 event in Orlando this week. Yoho is challenging veteran Republican U.S. Rep. Cliff Stearns for the moment -- but with the Legislature tackling redistricting in early 2012, that could change, and Yoho could be running in other districts.

Conservative Political Action Conference Chairman Al Cardenas said the early voting by delegates attending the Florida Conference has been "light" in the straw poll for U.S. Senate. He said that may have been due to the delegates waiting to hear the candidates speak just before noon.

Conservative writer and activist Marielena Stuart was not on stage at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) event in Orlando where four Republican hopefuls to challenge Democratic U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson spoke on Friday. Stuart worked the crowd, meeting with conservative and Republican activists as she continues her bid for the Republican nomination.

Former Florida House Majority Leader Adam Hasner sat down to talk to Sunshine State News about his bid for the Republican nomination to take on Democratic incumbent U.S. Sen. Nill Nelson in 2012. Hasner was one of four Republican hopefuls to speak at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) event in Orlando on Friday. Keep an eye on Sunshine State News for a look at the forum and the straw poll that will be held later on Friday.

Conservative blogger Javier Manjarres of The Shark Tank sat down to talk with Sunshine State News at the Presidency 5 event in Orlando. Manjarres focused on the 2012 elections and the growth of conservative media outlets.

On Friday, Gov. Rick Scott talked to Sunshine State News at the Presidency 5 event held by the Republican Party of Florida (RPOF) in Orlando. Scott talked about Floridas role in the 2012 election cycle since the Sunshine State appears to be one of the chief battlegrounds in the presidential election. The governor also weighed in on the U.S. Senate race as Republicans ponder who to back to take on Democratic U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson in 2012.

It's wall-to-wall revelry at the tea party "Suite Tea" hospitality rooms at the Peabody Hotel. As the picture here shows, overflow crowds spilled outside the suite as presidential candidates and assorted other politicos drop by to visit. The suite -- located in the Challenger 38-39 breakout rooms on the second level of the Peabody -- remains open until 10 p.m. Friday.

Florida Republican and Democratic lawmakers agreed Friday that the state should schedule its presidential primary to be the fifth in the nation. By national party rules, Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina hold the first four positions in 2012. But other states -- notably Arizona, Missouri and Michigan -- are crowding in, and Florida wants to conduct its primary before the scheduled March 6 multistate Super Tuesday.

GOP presidential candidate Newt Gingrich will be traversing Florida Saturday morning. He will speak to a breakfast gathering of the tea party group, South Florida Conservatives, at Miami's famed Versailles restaurant, 3555 SW 8th St. The event starts at 7:30 a.m., said organizer Marcos Sendon. Gingrich will then head back to Orlando to compete in the Presidency 5 Straw Poll that afternoon. Speeches are scheduled to start at 1:35 p.m. at the Orange County Convention Center, with balloting beginning at 4:30 p.m.

Republican presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich will release his second "Contract With America" next Thursday in Des Moines, Iowa. "It's going to be bigger, deeper and more profound," than the "Contract With America" he helped author in 1994, Gingrich said during Thursday night's debate at the Orange County Convention Center. The 1994 contract called for shrinking the size of government, promoted lower taxes and greater entrepreneurial activity, and advocated tort and welfare reforms.

Vice President Joe Biden is in South Florida Friday, touting the administration's latest plans for government spending. But Biden's promises for jobs and economic recovery have a queasy deja-vu ring to them. Since the first Obama stimulus program was passed, Florida has lost 99,600 construction jobs and 31,600 manufacturing jobs, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Yet Biden & Co. claim a second stimulus package could support 20,500 new jobs in Florida.

U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., says the growing Solyndra scandal is emblematic of what was wrong with the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 and why a second round of stimulus isn't needed. "Vice President Joe Biden said the stimulus program and Solyndra is exactly what the stimulus program was all about: greed, graft and corruption." said Bachmann Friday morning."And now President Obama is proposing a 'son of stimulus.' We don't need the sequel."

Jon Huntsman headed into the lion's den of CPAC Friday, and challenged orthodox conservatism. In prepared remarks, the former Utah governor said: "I believe in science -- including as it relates to evolution and climate change. "I believe in civil unions, though I also support traditional marriage. "I believe immigration is a human as well as an economic issue, and that children of illegal immigrants shouldnt be punished for the sins of their parents."

Before the first presidential candidate hits the main stage or any of the 12 breakout panels is seated, Conservative Political Action Conference Chairman Al Cardenas declared the event this weekend in Orlando a success during a morning briefing with the media. "We had no idea or expectations on how this would turn out, but I'm happy to report over 3,000 people paid to be here today in addition to 300 of you in the media," he said. "Clearly this makes it a very successful event from the outset."