Rick Scott, the Republican gubernatorial candidate, received the backing of the Florida chapter of the National Federation of Independent Businesses (NFIB) on Friday at an event in Orlando. Scott used the endorsement from the group, which has around 10,000 members in the Sunshine State, to highlight his fiscal conservatism.

Florida CFO and gubernatorial candidate Alex Sink today renewed her call for five statewide televised debates and stressed the need for Rick Scott to participate in the Spanish-language debate being hosted by Univision on Oct. 8.

Former Rep. Dennis Ross, the Republican candidate to take U.S. Rep. Adam Putnams seat in Congress, announced on Friday that he won the endorsement of one of the most prominent Republican leaders of the last two decades and a possible presidential candidate in 2012 -- former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich.

Assorted Tea and "9/12" patriot groups this week called for Libertarian candidate Alex Snitker to quit the U.S. Senate race. The groups reasoned that Snitker would drain votes from Republican Marco Rubio. Snitker has no plans to pull out, and the state's only officially registered political tea party, the Florida TEA (Taxed Enough Already) Party, wants him to stay in.

Pastor Terry Jones of the Dove World Outreach Center in Gainesville announced late on Thursday that he was reconsidering canceling the Quran-burning event that was scheduled to be held on Saturday. Instead, he said it was only suspended.

No deal? CNN read a statement from Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf who is leading efforts to build a mosque near the site of the 9/11 attacks in New York saying he had not heard anything about moving his mosque in exchange for Pastor Terry Jones of the Dove World Outreach Center in Gainesville quashing an event to burn Qurans on Saturday to mark the ninth anniversary of those terrorist attacks. Jones countered by telling the media that, while he has not spoken to Abdul Rauf, he assumed the deal was still in place and would prepare to head to New York on Saturday.

Pastor Terry Jones of the Dove World Outreach Center in Gainesville announced late Thursday afternoon that he was canceling the Quran-burning event scheduled for Saturday. Jones said he agreed to cancel the event to commemorate the 9/11 attacks because a mosque that was being planned a block and a half away from the site of the attacks was being moved. We have thought it over many times, said Jones. We felt very convinced that we should do this.

On Thursday, Gov. Charlie Crist announced the appointment of members of the states Task Force on Educational Excellence to examine teacher pay and development, student competitiveness and focus on technology changes. These committed Floridians understand that student achievement and teacher effectiveness are keys to strengthening Floridas talent pool of graduates entering our work force, said Crist. Its vital that every teacher in our state has the resources they need to prepare our students for the future.

Young conservative activists got the bum's rush from Palm Beach State College this week after they displayed anti-Obama literature during a campus club rush function. PBSC student Christina Beattie said she had received approval from college administrator Olivia Ford-Morris to participate in the club rush, but Beattie and two members of the Young Americans for Freedom were told to fold up their table shortly after setting up.

Twenty-six leaders from more than a dozen tea parties and "patriot" groups across the state on Thursday endorsed Rick Scott for governor. The endorsements aren't a huge surprise, given the tea/patriot leanings toward Scott's conservative agenda. But it's significant since at least some of the endorsers had previously supported Scott's primary rival, Attorney General Bill McCollum.

A Sunshine State News Poll to be released Friday reports on the tightly contested Florida governor's race between Republican Rick Scott and Democrat Alex Sink. The survey of likely voters conducted after Scott's selection of state Rep. Jennifer Carroll as his lieutenant governor running mate contains surprising results -- and a possible roadmap to victory for each candidate.

Based on the premise that figuring out the new health-care laws can be difficult for anyone, especially those who don't speak English, the federal government has launched a new Spanish-language website to overcome the language obstacle. Cuidadodesalude.gov was designed to help Latinos find answers to information on the Affordable Health Care Act passed about six months ago.

Looking to get back into the U.S. Senate race, the campaign team of U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek, who is mired in third place in every poll behind Republican candidate Marco Rubio and Gov. Charlie Crist who is running without party affiliation, took aim at Crist on the environment.

Former House Speaker Marco Rubio, the Republican candidate in the U.S. Senate election, launched a new television ad on Thursday, highlighting his family and calling them members of the most important generation in American history. Rubio, who reminded viewers that he was the son of exiles, hinted that the size of government could spiral even more out of control. Despite that warning, Rubio is positive in the commercial and does not hit his two main rivals -- Democratic candidate U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek and Gov. Charlie Crist who is running without party affiliation.

Who's more pathetic: a small-time reverend burning copies of the Quran to mark 9/11, or craven state politicians who won't speak out until someone else does? Gainesville pastor Terry Jones has everyone's attention now. But it wasn't that way early on. When Sunshine State News contacted an array of Florida political leaders Monday morning to get their comment on Saturday's plannedbonfire, only Republican attorney general candidate Pam Bondi responded.