Former House Speaker Marco Rubio, the Republican candidate in the U.S. Senate race, promised on Monday to reign in federal spending and offered proposals to help slash the size and cost of the federal government. Currently locked at the top of the polls with Gov. Charlie Crist, who is running without party affiliation, Rubio spoke at a town hall meeting in Jacksonville where he unveiled his proposals.

State CFO Alex Sink, the likely Democratic candidate in the gubernatorial race, is talking up her gender. On Tuesday, Sink will kick off a new arm of her campaign, Women for Alex. Thirty years ago, when I started working my way up in the business world, women executives were few and far between, wrote Sink to supporters this weekend. It wasn't easy breaking the glass ceiling, but I wasn't about to let that hold me back.

Locked in a close primary battle with billionaire investor Jeff Greene for the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate election, U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek is finally getting backing from the Obama administration. Meek, who lags far behind both independent Gov. Charlie Crist and Republican candidate Marco Rubio, will be holding a fund-raiser on Aug. 2 in Washington and the headliner will be Rahm Emmanuel, the former congressman from Chicago now serving as White House chief of staff.

With six of the nation's 10 most affluent counties in the Washington metro area, why not spread the wealth and brainpower? That's the question posed by Washington Post writer Alec MacGillis in a provocative piece titled: "Get Out of Town! The case for breaking up the federal government -- and scattering it beyond the Beltway." Among MacGillis' suggestions is locating the federal homeowner assistance program to Tampa. Another move would put high-speed rail development in Fresno, Calif. (Hey, why not Orlando?)

Money is flowing into the First Coast. Republican Party of Florida Chairman Sen. John Thrasher, R-Jacksonville, is facing two challengers in his bid for re-election.

Apparently, there's another big spender in the 24th Congressional District race. Deon Long reported raising more than $160,000 from nearly 5,000 donors in the second quarter. That puts the conservative activist within striking distance of fellow Republicans Karen Diebel, Craig Miller and Sandy Adams. In the most recent cash-on-hand tallies, Winter Park City Commissioner Diebel had $450,000; Miller, the CEO of Ruth's Chris, had $326,000; state Rep. Adams, R-Oveido, had $182,000; and Long listed $100,000.

The story in the 9th House race has been the tight battle between Rep. Michelle Rehwinkel-Vasilinda, D-Tallahassee, and former Leon County Democratic Chairman Rick Minor for the Democratic nomination. Once again, Minor brought in more cash than the incumbent, who was prohibited from fund-raising in April when the Legislature was in session. Minor raised $15,224.17, while Rehwinkel-Vasilinda raised less than $11,000.

Former Tallahassee Mayor Scott Maddox, the Democratic candidate in the race for commissioner of agriculture and consumer services, posted his fund-raising figures for 2010. Maddox brought in more than $100,000 in cash and more than $55,000 through in-kind donations, while his Republican opponent U.S. Rep. Adam Putnam brought in more than $205,000 in cash and more than $166,000 through in-kind donations.

With Joe Garcia --a former member of the Obama administration who is now running as a Democrat for the U.S. House seat that Mario Diaz-Balart is vacating --defending the White Houses economic policies, the team of Rep. David Rivera, R-Miami, went on the attack.

How should Stephanie Kopelousos feel about this, I wonder? Jealous? Relieved? Amused? Before the day is out, Kopelousos, Florida Department of Transportation secretary, is going to find out that her always-colorful counterpart in Mississippi -- Larry L. "Butch" Brown -- was arrested in Biloxi early Friday. And what an arrest it was.

Both of the Democratic candidates for attorney general announced their fund-raising totals for the second quarter. Sen. Dave Aronberg, D-Greenacres, announced he had brought in almost $380,000 with $264,000 in cash and $115,000 through in-kind donations. His rival, Sen. Dan Gelber, D-Miami Beach, announced he had brought in more than $280,000 -- $165,000 in cash and $115,000 through in-kind donations.

Republican gubernatorial candidate Bill McCollum reported raising $1.04 million in the second quarter. Unofficially, that brings his running total to $7.5 million. But under an onslaught by GOP rival Rick Scott, McCollum had drained his reserves to less than $800,000, according to a recent court filing by the campaign, so the attorney general is accepting matching funds from the state's campaign finance pool. The first check, disbursed today by the state Division of Elections, was in the amount of $1,260,142.17.

Gov. Charlie Crist issued an executive order on Friday extending unemployment benefits in Florida until December -- changing Florida statutes after the battle in Congress this week over benefits. We simply cannot desert the 250,000 Floridians who qualify for the extended federal assistance signed into law yesterday, said Crist. I am committed to exercising my constitutional duty to authorize the use of available federal funds to help out-of-work Floridians who qualify for this help.

With the Orlando Sentinel reporting that Republican gubernatorial candidate Rick Scott seemed open to investigating whether or not President Barack Obama was born in the United States, the Florida Democratic Party and the campaign team of Attorney General Bill McCollum, Scotts main rival for the GOP nod, have opened fire.

With Democratic U.S. Rep. Charlie Rangel of New York facing ethics troubles in the U.S. House, Republicans are focusingin on one of his key allies in Florida -- U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek, who is facing a tough challenge from Jeff Greene for the Democratic nomination in the U.S. Senate race. With Meek receiving more than $5,000 from Rangels campaign and PACover the years, the National Republican Senate Committee (NRSC) has been asking the Floridian to return the funds. Meek and Rangel served on the House Ways and Means Committee.