If this week's Quinnipiac Poll looked bleak for Florida Republicans, the reason may be in the sampling. The poll, which showed President Barack Obama's popularity rising and Sen. Bill Nelson whipping the GOP competition, surveyed an artificially low number of Republican voters. While 27 of respondents identified themselves as Republicans, the party has 36 percent of the state's registered voters.

LeBron James did his best-player-in-the-game-thing again, scoring 28 points, Dwyane Wade added 21 and the Miami Heat eliminated the Chicago Bulls, 83-80, in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference finals in Chicago Thursday. James and Wade each scored 8 during a game-ending 18-3 run, as Miami obliterated a 12-point deficit to take the series. The Heat are headed back to the NBA finals for the first time since 2006. And who will they be facing? The same team they did five years ago, the Dallas Mavericks.

Gov. Rick Scott signed the budget Thursday in The Villages, simultaneously announcing $615 million in line item veto budget cuts. The final budget now comes in at $69.1 billion. Scott said the vetoes would have gone to "special interests" and now the majority of the money will go into pre-K through 12 education. "There were 3,036 line items in that budget. I know that because I looked at every single one of them," Scott said.

Florida Congressman John Mica, chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, said Thursday he wants to take the Northeast corridor train service away from Amtrak and instead let private investors bid to replace it with a high-speed rail service. The Northeast corridor commuter system is Amtrak's most popular and only entirely profitable service line.

The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday upheld an Arizona E-Verify immigration law that Florida's lawmakers couldn't pass. The Arizona law permits the state to revoke the business licenses of companies that knowingly hire illegal workers. It requires employers to use an otherwise optional federal verification program, known as the E-Verify system, which collects data on workers from the Social Security Administration and Department of Homeland Security.

Can't make it down to The Villages for Gov. Rick Scotts $69.7 billion budget signing Thursday? Catch it on your computer. Log onto http://www.rickscottforflorida.com/livestream/ at 1 p.m. to be part of what most Capitol watchers expect will be Scott making veto history. The governor loves conducting big events in rural Florida, where his tea party faithful can gather. He did it when he flew to Eustis to release his budget, he's doing it now to get it red-lined and signed in The Villages.

Florida Republican U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio released a video statement on Wednesday night where he talked about Medicare -- and why the budget proposal backed by U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., is the only way to preserve it.

Former state House Majority Leader Adam Hasner, now in a crowded and competitive Republican primary to take on Democratic U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson in 2012, shrugged off the results of a special congressional election in New York on Tuesday night, inwhich a Democratic candidate picked up aseat from the Republicans,and doubled down his support of federal budgetary reforms backed by U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis.

Florida Republican U.S. Rep. Tom Rooney testified before the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee on Wednesday and accused President Barack Obama of violating the Constitution and the War Powers Resolution for not getting congressional authorization for military actions in Libya.

A South Florida man's plan to shred a copy of the Quran at a Boca Raton park is drawing fire from a local minister who has also spoken out against Muslim extremism. Mark Dixon Rowley informed the city that he will desecrate a copy of the Islamic holy book at Sanborn Square on Memorial Day. His request for a permit was neither approved nor denied by the city, which informed Rowley in writing on Wednesday that an "'event conducted for the primary purpose of First Amendment speech or assembly' is excluded from permit requirements."

Jose Oliva prevailed in a special election primary held on Tuesday, beating two fellow Republicans in the contest to represent parts of Miami-Dade County in the Florida House. Oliva will be a heavy favorite to beat write-in candidate Antonio Moreno in the June 28 special general election.

Amid continued concern over the economy, a national survey finds that voters -- including union households -- see federal government regulations as a threat to recovery. A poll of 1,000 registered voters by the conservative advocacy group Resurgent Republic found that by a margin of 55 percent to 36 percent, voters are more concerned that the federal government has too many regulations that will hurt the economy, rather than too few regulations to hold private businesses accountable.

A poll released on Wednesday morning by Quinnipiac University found Floridians are souring on Gov. Rick Scott and have a low opinion of the Legislature and the 2011 budget that the governor is expected to sign on Thursday. A clear majority of those surveyed -- 57 percent -- disapproved of Scotts performance in office, the lowest rating of any governor examined by Quinnipiac, while only 29 percent expressed approval of the governor. In the last Quinnipiac poll released in early April, Scott won the approval of 35 percent and the disapproval of 48 percent.

Julio Robaina and Carlos Gimenez led the 11-way race for Miami-Dade mayor wire to wire Tuesday night. Robaina, the Hialeah mayor who was endorsed by the Latin Builders Association, finished with 33.7 percent of the vote with all 829 precincts counted. County Commissioner Gimenez garnered 28.8 percent. They will advance to a runoff June 28. The only other mayoral hopefuls in double figures were former state Rep. Marcelo Llorente (14.8 percent) and ex-rapper Luther Campbell (11.07 percent).

Julio Robaina and Carlos Gimenez were leading in the 11-way race for Miami-Dade mayor Tuesday night. Robaina, the Hialeah mayor who was endorsed by the Latin Builders Association, had 33.8 percent of the vote, with 677 of 829 precincts reporting. County Commissioner Gimenez garnered 28.7 percent. The top two candidates will advance to a runoff. The only other mayoral hopefuls in double figures were former state Rep. Marcelo Llorente (14.8 percent) and ex-rapper Luther Campbell (11.4 percent).