Mike Yost will be back in 2012. Yost, the Republican candidate who ran against Democratic U.S. Rep. Corrine Brown, appears to be headed for a rematch. While Yost pulled in more than $80,000 and caught the attention of national pundits, Brown defeated him with more than 60 percent of the vote. Yost has already released a web video for his campaign. Sign up for news alerts from Sunshine State News

State Rep. Daphne Campbell, D-Miami, has filed House Bill 4103 to remove restrictions placed on Advanced Registered Nurse Practitioners in Florida. Setting up a battle with the Florida Medical Association, Campbell's bill seeks to broaden the scope of practice that can be provided by nurse practitioners.

As expected, state Rep. Gayle Harrell, R-Port St. Lucie, has filed a bill to require Florida employers to use the federal E-Verify employee screening system. House Bill 691 is the companion measure to Sen. Alan Hays' SB 518. This bill is a job creator.We need to get Floridians back to work. By filing this bill we will give Floridians the chance on jobs which were not available to them before,Harrell said.

They didn't win in November, but Florida TEA (Taxed Enough Already) Party candidates racked up two more court victories against the Republican Party of Florida this month. The cases of Don Hensarling v. Jose Alvarez and Hensarling v. John Devries were dismissed on Feb. 9 and Feb. 1 respectively. Hensarling, a 9/12 Project activist in Tampa, filed a series of suits attempting to derail the TEA Party candidacies of Alvarez and Devries. Alvarez was running for a legislative seat in Osceola County while Devries was seeking a seat from Seminole County.

On Wednesday, local officials joined up with WWE Inc. to announce that Miami would be hosting WrestleMania XXVIII on Sunday, April 1, 2012. Flanked by WWE wrestlers, including fan favorite John Cena, Vince McMahon, the chairman and CEO of WWE, joined up with Jose Pepe Diaz of the Miami-Dade County Commission and Miami-Dade Sports Commission, CEO Mike Dee of the Miami Dolphins and Dolphins legend Dan Marino to announce the news.

Republican leaders in Florida don't just answer to their conscience and constituents -- the state party is holding them accountable as well. A five-page "Oath of Party Loyalty and Ethical Conduct," to be signed by GOP party officers, states: I, ___________________________, hereby swear or affirm that during my term of office: a. In a partisan general election in which the Republican Party has a candidate, I will not actively, publicly, or financially support the election of any candidate other than the Republican Partys nominee;

Conservative leader Gary Bauer, best known for leading the Family Research Council and his bid for the Republican presidential nomination back in 2000, offered strong words of praise for Florida Republican U.S. Rep. Allen West on Wednesday.

Al Cardenas, a former chairman of the Republican Party of Florida (RPOF), was named on Wednesday to head up the American Conservative Union (ACU), succeeding conservative icon David Keene who led the group for more than 25 years. Cardenas, who had served as the ACUs treasurer was elected as chairman without opposition despite grumblings from some social conservatives who maintained he did not share their commitment to traditional values.

While there have been rumors and reports that the proposed budget unveiled on Monday by Gov. Rick Scott would lead to closing 53 state parks -- including Civil War battlefields like Olustee and Natural Bridge -- the Scott team shot those reports down on Wednesday.

Gov. Rick Scott's plan to reform Florida's pension program got a boost from the LeRoy Collins Institute Wednesday in a report descriptively titled, "Trouble Ahead: Florida Local Governments and Retirement Obligations." Reporting that local government employee retirement obligations are "a bigger, more complex ticking time bomb than previously recognized," the Collins study found that public pension costs are climbing quickly. At the county level alone, publicly funded pension contributions averaged more than $21 million, up $12 million from just six years ago.

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, who ran for the Republican presidential nomination in 2008 and seems near certain to do so again in 2012, announced on Wednesday that his leadership PAC, Free and Strong America, contributed almost $130,000 to Republicans in the U.S. House and Senate in the opening weeks of 2011.

While South Floridians went to the polls on Tuesday to vote in special elections for two legislative seats, both races were very close and the House election could be headed for a recount. Turnout was extremely light with only 6 percent of the registered voters in the districts in Miami-Dade County showing up at the polls and a paltry 1.6 percent of the eligible voters in Broward County casting ballots in the House race.

U.S. Rep. Connie Mack agreed with fellow Florida Republican U.S. Rep. John Mica that the Obama administrations plan to spend $53 billion for high-speed rail projects shows the president is showing no restraint on spending. Mack took aim at the plan on Tuesday, as well as a proposed influx of more than $40 billion to the states for unemployment.

From his perch as chairman of the U.S. House Emergency Preparedness, Response and Communications Subcommittee, Florida Republican U.S. Rep. Gus Bilirakis is charged with, among other things, congressional oversight of FEMA. After visits to emergency management specialists in Pasco and Pinellas counties last week, Bilirakis met with FEMA chief Craig Fugate on Tuesday to build better communications between national responders and those in the Sunshine State.

Former Washington, D.C., schools chancellor Michell Rhee will address Florida legislators on Wednesday and Thursday. Rhee, who has founded the national education reform organization StudentsFirst, will speak to the House K-20 Competitiveness Subcommittee on Wednesdayand to the Senate PreK-12 Education Committee on Thursday. Her Wednesday appearance will be during the House committee's 3-6 p.m. meeting at Webster Hall. The Senate panel meets from 1-6 p.m.Thursday at 412 Knott Building.