While he may be involved in one of the closer congressional races in Florida, Rep. David Rivera, R-Miami, offered heavy praise for Attorney General Bill McCollums lawsuit against new federal health-care laws backed by President Barack Obama.

Rep. Yolly Roberson, D-North Miami Beach, lives in U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meeks congressional district -- but she will not back the Democratic nominee in the U.S. Senate election. Instead, Roberson announced on Tuesday that she is backing Gov. Charlie Crist, who is running for the Senate seat without party affiliation.

With oral arguments concluded in Pensacola, where a federal judge weighs whether to dismiss a lawsuit filed by Attorney General Bill McCollum against new federal health-care laws backed by President Barack Obama, McCollum feels good that his case --which is being backed by 19 other states and the National Federation of Independent Businesses --will be heard.

On Tuesday, the Florida Retail Federation PAC (FRFPAC) announced it was backing former Assistant State Attorney Pam Bondi, the Republican candidate to be Floridas next attorney general, over Democratic candidate Sen. Dan Gelber of Miami Beach.

Gov. Charlie Crist and the Cabinet voted on Tuesday that Sept. 25 will be designated Eunice Kennedy Shriver Day in honor of the founder of the Special Olympics. The measure was introduced by Agricultural and Consumer Services Commissioner Charles Bronson.

While the leading potential Republican candidates converge on Washington this week to take part in the Values Voters straw poll being backed by the Family Research Council, Jonathan Martin over at Politico offers a look at a dark horse who is increasingly being buzzed about as a possible presidential candidate -- Gov. Mitch Daniels of Indiana. Martin looks at the large number of Republican leaders who have been heading to Indiana to meet with Daniels -- including a prominent Floridian.

On Tuesday, Republican U.S. Rep. Adam Putnams staff announced that the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP), Florida State Lodge was backing its candidate to be Floridas next commissioner of agriculture and consumer services. While the FOP backed Putnam for the Republican nomination and former Tallahassee Mayor Scott Maddox for the Democratic nod, the group --which represents more than 20,000 members in Florida -- chose to rally behind Putnam in the general election.

Former Assistant State Attorney Pam Bondi, the Republican nominee for attorney general, pledged to fight for conservative values if elected, vowing to continue Attorney General Bill McCollums legal challenge to new federal health-care laws backed by President Barack Obama.

Thanks to an astute (and politically unaffiliated) West Coast reader, we're reminded about the dubious origins of the supposed "investigation" of Marco Rubio in l'affair Jim Greer. I quote: "We have seen this Rubio-under-'preliminary'-investigation-by-IRS story linger ever since the St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald put it out there.They put it out in the same story announcing that Greer was being investigated.

Republican gubernatorial candidate Rick Scott has been linking state CFO Alex Sink, the Democratic nominee in the race, to President Barack Obama, saying that she has backed the White House on economic policies and supported new health-care laws. The Scott campaign released a new commercial on Tuesday continuing that line of attack, showing Sink praising Obama.

The five-way race in Central Florida's 8th Congressional District gets more and more interesting. Republican Daniel Webster's camp tells me that Rep. Alan Grayson's internal poll showing the Democrat with 40 percent of the vote bore no resemblance to reality. The poll showed Webster with 27 percent and the remaining 33 percent "other" or undecided. Yesterday, NPA candidate George Metcalfe added his skepticism.

Republican gubernatorial hopeful Rick Scott offered high praise on Tuesday morning for the man he defeated in the Republican primary--Attorney General Bill McCollum. Scott praised McCollum for filing a legal challenge against new federal health-care laws backed by President Barack Obama.

With the legal challenge launched by Attorney General Bill McCollum against new federal health-care laws backed by President Barack Obama being heard Tuesday in a federal court in Pensacola, the campaign team of former House Speaker Marco Rubio, the Republican candidate in the U.S. Senate race, is demanding to know if Gov. Charlie Crist, who is running without party affiliation, still wants to repeal those measures.

Gov. Charlie Crist and the state Department of Education are touting "stunning" news about Florida's Advanced Placement scores. Over the past five years, the DOE reported, the number of students registering passing scores on AP exams rose 54.7 percent. That beats the national increase of 36.9 percent. Nice, but the "stunning" news isn't so impressive when one looks at the even-greater increase in the number of total test takers over the same period. In that time, 73.4 percent more Florida students sat for the AP exam.

Looks like another debate is set between state CFO Alex Sink, the Democratic gubernatorial nominee, and Republican candidate Rick Scott. The Scott campaign announced on Monday that their candidate would take part in a debate against Sink held by Univision on October 8.