Floridians who will spend their Independence Day weekend glued to the television may come across a new ad from Priorities USA Action, a PAC backing Democrats, which is running ads responding to Karl Roves American Crossroads PAC launching ads against President Barack Obama. The ads will be running in Florida as well as Colorado, Iowa and Virginia, and they hammer Republicans on Medicare, education, and accuse the GOP of trying to tear down the middle class.

Mike McCalister, a businessman and retired Army officer, made it official on Wednesday by formally entering the Republican primary contest to take on Democratic U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson in 2012. McCalister, who took more than 10 percent when he ran for the Republican gubernatorial nomination, was widely expected to enter the race and had been hitting the Sunshine State for months.

While a new survey shows housing prices bumping up slightly in several U.S. markets, two Florida cities were moving down -- again. The S&P Case-Shiller Index reported that 15 metro areas recorded modestly higher prices for a three-month period ending in April. But Miami and Tampa (the only Florida cities surveyed) again hit new lows, falling 51.2 percent and 46.9 percent respectively off their record highs. Four other cities -- Charlotte, Chicago, Las Vegas and Detroit -- also posted record lows.

County Commissioner Carlos Gimenez narrowly won the mayoral runoff in Miami-Dade County Tuesday night, edging former Hialeah Mayor Julio Robaina in another low-turnout election.

Early returns pointed to a tight race in Miami-Dade's mayoral runoff Tuesday night. Hialeah Mayor Julio Robaina and County Commissioner Carlos Gimenez were vying to succeed Carlos Alvarez, who was ousted in a recall election this spring. With 499 of 829 precincts reporting Tuesday evening, Gimenez was ahead by a 51 percent to 49 percent margin. Late opinion polls showed Gimenez leading, despite Robaina's large fundraising edge.

The Florida Department of Transportation's chief got an earful Tuesday from both proponents and opponents of the planned SunRail commuter train project. Corporate supporters and grass-roots critics squared off in Orange, Seminole, Volusia and Osceola counties, where FDOT Secretary Ananth Prasad held a series of public meetings. Let's just say they agreed to disagree. The rhetorical battle is a prelude to Gov. Rick Scott's decision on the controversial rail line. An announcement is scheduled by Friday. See story Wednesday in Sunshine State News.

Public Policy Polling (PPP), a firm with connections to prominent Democrats, unveiled a poll on Tuesday that showed, after six months in office, Gov. Rick Scott remains deeply unpopular with voters in the Sunshine State and is, for the moment, in bad shape to be re-elected in 2014.

Florida Republican U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio spoke on the Senate floor on Tuesday and, while he was critical of the way President Barack Obama has handled affairs in Libya, strongly backed continued military operations against that nation and called for the removal of strongman Moammar Gadhafi.

Florida state Rep. Ritch Workman says he will look at the issues a states'-rights group raised about a controversial TSA frisking, but he isn't committing to anything yet. The Florida 10th Amendment Center this week condemned the TSA for its aggressive patdown of a 95-year-old grandmother at Northwest Florida Regional Airport. The wheelchair-bound woman said TSA agents ordered her to remove her adult diaper.

Former U.S. Sen. George LeMieux praised the Republican leadership in Tallahassee on Monday for enacting school choice laws that Gov. Rick Scott signed off on. LeMieux is currently running in a crowded Republican primary to take on Democratic U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson in 2012.

Former Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore, best known for his defense of the Ten Commandments in his courthouse and being removed from office for taking on the federal government over the matter, issued a statement on Monday attacking the decision by New York to allow same-sex marriage in the Empire State.

The American Conservative Union (ACU) revealed on Monday that they will be taking their congressional rating system, which is iconic for many conservatives, to the state level. The ACU will be grading state representatives and senators on votes much as they have congressmen and senators for four decades The program will start up in five states, including the Sunshine State. The other four states, all of which are shaping up as 2012 battlegrounds, are Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio and Virginia.

Former Florida House Democratic Leader Franklin Sands of Weston sent out a statement on Monday attacking Delta Airlines for entering a business agreement with Saudi Arabian Airlines. Sands hammered Saudi Arabian Airlines for refusing to fly passengers who have visited Israel in recent months.

While a fellow Minnesotan in U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann is garnering the headlines and momentum in the Republican presidential contest, former Gov. Tim Pawleny looked to get some wind in his sails this week as he released a new radio ad playing in Iowa. Minnesota, says the announcer in the ad. Not exactly a conservative place. Then came Tim Pawlenty, widely recognized as the most conservative governor in Minnesota history.

Gov. Rick Scott embarked on a bill-signing tour of the state Monday, visiting schools in Ocoee, St. Petersburg and Fort Lauderdale in order to highlight the signing of a spate of bills expanding charter and virtual schools. Scott touted the bills as a way to buttress his efforts to bring jobs to Florida by creating a highly-skilled and highly-educated work force.