Stuck in third place in the polls, U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek, the Democratic candidate in the U.S. Senate race, now confronts whispers that he will pull out of the race. Stephen Moore over at the Wall Street Journal reported that Florida Republicans are worried such a scenario is in place -- and will leave Democrats who would back Meek voting for Gov. Charlie Crist who is running with no party affiliation.

Cigarette companies burned by lawsuits in Florida hope that the worst is behind them. Some 8,000 suits have been filed against tobacco firms -- more than in all other states combined. Since 2009, Florida juries have awarded smokers and their families more than $250 million in damages -- 10 times the total levied nationwide. But recent cases suggest the scales of justice may be tipping toward Big Tobacco. See our story tomorrow to learn why.

The Wall Street Journal reports that President Barack Obama is not expected to sign legislation passed by Congress before it adjourned last week that would have forced states to recognize out-of-state notarizations of foreclosure documents. Obama will use the "pocket veto" method to effectively kill the bill.

John Rood, a former U.S. ambassador and ex-friend of Charlie Crist, has filed a second lawsuit against his estranged pal, this time alleging the governor is violating Florida's public-records law.

Oddsmakers favor the Miami Hurricanes (-6) over Florida State and the Florida Gators (-6.5) over LSU in the Sunshine State's two big college games Saturday night. As for the over/under, FSU-Miami is set at 48.5 points. LSU-UF weighs in at 42.5 points. Smart money takes the under, with ESPN's Kirk Herbstreit calling that matchup of two anemic offenses a "pillow fight." He's thinking a score of 13-10 sounds about right, though he didn't predict the winner.

The Sierra Club, with more than 30,000 members in the Sunshine State, endorsed both Gov. Charlie Crist, who is running without party affiliation, and Democratic candidate U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek on Thursday -- an endorsement which Meek promptly refused. In their endorsement on Thursday, the Sierra Club praised both Crist and Meek for their records on the environment and attacked Republican candidate Marco Rubios record on green issues. Unlike his two rivals, Rubio did not seek the groups backing.

Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush has been named a visiting fellow for Harvard University's Institute of Politics, according to the Associated Press. The fellowship is scheduled to begin Nov. 15. No word yet on how Jeb's brother, ex-President George W. Bush, a graduate of Yale University, Harvard's hated rival, feels about the appointment.

The campaign of Scott Maddox, the Democratic nominee for commissioner of agriculture and consumer services, is offering voters a 'behind the scenes' look at his campaign. His campaign website has posted a video detailing the production of Maddox's first ad.

A poll released by Mason-Dixon added to what is increasingly the conventional wisdom in the U.S. Senate race -- that Republican candidate former House Speaker Marco Rubio is the front-runner in the contest. The poll had Rubio with 42 percent and Gov. Charlie Crist, who has no party affiliation, with 27 percent. In third place with 21 percent, Democratic candidate U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek has just half of the support that Rubio has.

The campaign team of U.S. Rep. Adam Putnam, the Republican nominee in the race to be Floridas next agriculture and consumer services commissioner, announced on Thursday that their candidate won the endorsement of the Florida Association of Security Companies (FASCO) which represents more than 120,000 security officers in Florida.

On Thursday, Florida TaxWatch released a piece by Republican U.S. Sen. George LeMieux in which he argues that the federal government needs to return to 2007 levels of spending and needs to be run more like a business.

On Thursday, former Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania announced that he was creating the Iowa Keystone Political Action Committee, a PAC that will help candidates in that state -- the site of the first caucus in the open battle for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination.

As the election heads into the final weeks, former Rep. Dennis Ross, the Republican candidate running to replace U.S. Rep. Adam Putnam, unveiled a new commercial introducing himself to the voters of the district which spans three counties in Central Florida.