A new poll finds Jacksonville, an important bastion of Republican support for statewide races in Florida, likes Mitt Romney but is not so fond of Ron Paul, as the Republican presidential candidates line up.

A poll from Dixie Strategies taken on behalf of First Coast News found the Jacksonville mayoral race to be close. Duval County Tax Collector Mike Hogan, a Republican, leads with 49 percent with former Al Gore aide Alvin Brown, a Democrat, taking 43 percent. More than 50 percent of those surveyed are undecided on who they were backing to replace Hogan as Duval County tax collector, while former Rep. Dick Kravitz took 30 percent and City Councilman Michael Corrigan had the backing of 19 percent. The elections will take place on Tuesday.

Responding to an industry group's call for Gov. Rick Scott to approve the $1.2 billion SunRail commuter train, opponents of the project say the numbers don't add up for taxpayers.

Former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich announced on Wednesday that he was officially running for the Republican presidential nomination. Gingrich released a video on Wednesday in which he touched on his record and his work with Ronald Reagans administration during the 1980s.

More bad news for the Donald. Two polls released on Wednesday revealed that President Barack Obama was destroying potential Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump. A poll from Ispos found Obama destroying Trump, beating the billionaire businessman turned reality TV star, 57 percent to 30 percent. The poll of 1,029 voters was taken between May 5-9 and had a margin of error of +/- 3 percent.

A poll released on Wednesday revealed that President Barack Obama was enjoying a surge of popularity after American forces killed terrorist Osama bin Laden. The poll from Ispos found Obama getting more than 50 percent against every single one of a host of Republican challengers. Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee came closest in the poll but still lost, with the president getting 51 percent support of those surveyed while the Republican was behind him with 39 percent. Obama led former Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts, 51 percent to 38 percent.

Republicans who control the House are advancing three bills -- which the House leadership has dubbed the American Energy Initiative -- that would expand offshore energy production, and they insist that this will lead to relief for Americans plagued by high gas prices.

In the emerging race for U.S. Senate, Republican George LeMieux is out with a new video contrasting his positions with those of Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson. Looking beyond what is shaping up to be a hotly contested GOP primary, LeMieux highlights his "conservative values" voting record on issues ranging from Obamacare to immigration during the 16 months he served in the World's Greatest Deliberative Body. Watch the video here.

A CATO Institute researcher says Florida Gov. Rick Scott's rejection of ObamaRail funds spared Americans from a scheme to jack up energy prices through new taxes. Randal O'Toole wrote Tuesday:

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, who may be gearing up for another shot at the Republican presidential nomination, weighed in on Tuesday on the debt ceiling.

Amid a glut of 5,000 unsold condominiums in Miami, developer Jorge Perez is doubling down. Betting that buyers from Latin America and Europe will lead the South Florida real-estate market out of its funk, Perez has been snapping up distressed properties and buying new sites for development, the Wall Street Journal reports.

It wasn't the 10,000-plus that turned out for "Awake the State" rallies back in March, but "Save Our State Again" gathered respectable crowds for Tuesday's protests against the state budget. Rallies organized by public-employee unions and liberal activist groups such as Progress Florida were staged in 24 cities across Florida, with some of the largest turnouts in Orlando, St. Petersburg and Fort Lauderdale. A crowd of 200 congregated in St. Pete outside the district office of Republican state Rep. Jeff Brandes. Another 200 reportedly were on hand in Orlando.

Two Arizona sheriffs -- Larry Dever of Cochise County and Paul Babeu of Pinal County -- assailed President Barack Obama for what they called his "continued inaction on the border" and his administration's lawsuit against Arizona's immigration law. Rebutting Obama's claims that federal agents were sealing off the porous southwest border, Babeu said, "This is only a Band-Aid to our border's gaping wound."

Gov. Rick Scott today announced the appointments of Daniel DeLisi, James Jim Moran, Daniel OKeefe, Timothy Sargent, and Glenn Waldman to the governing board of the South Florida Water Management District. DeLisi, 37, of Estero, is a self-employed planning and engineering consultant. He is appointed to represent Collier, Lee, Hendry and Charlotte counties for a term beginning May 10, 2011, and ending March 1, 2015.

A poll released on Tuesday from Public Policy Polling (PPP), a firm with connections to prominent Democrats, showed that Republicans have increasingly turned against billionaire and reality TV star Donald Trumps presidential ambitions. While Trump led the Republican pack in Aprils version of the PPP poll, he was a distant fifth in the May poll.