Gov. Charlie Crist offered his spin on the new unemployment numbers.

What do a politician and a World Cup referee have in common? Put a little money in their pocket and they'll work like the devil to give you a win.

Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink is calling for the attorney managing the independent, $20 billion national oil spill response escrow fund to locate the fund's independent claim's office in Florida.

Rep. Pat Patterson, R-DeLand, a veteran of the House, pulled out of the contest for the Republican nomination for state CFO and turned his focus to running for the Senate seat currently occupied by Sen. Carey Baker, R-Eustis, that comes up in 2012. I have notified the Division of Elections that I would be switching over, said Patterson on Friday. Patterson gave a warm endorsement to Senate President Jeff Atwater, R-North Palm Beach, his chief Republican rival in the CFO race.

Former Tallahassee Mayor Scott Maddox has a clear shot at the Democratic nomination to be the next commissioner of agriculture and consumer services. With Thad Hamilton leaving the primary to run as an independent and former Suwannee County Commissioner Randy Hatch pulling out Thursday to back Maddox, former Rep. Rick Minton ended his bid today. We decided it wasnt in the cards, said Minton. Minton said he was encouraged to make the run, but the dynamics were changed when Maddox entered the race. It kind of sucked the oxygen out of the room.

Former House Speaker and Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate Marco Rubio weighed in on the May unemployment numbers for Florida. The numbers released this morning showed the unemployment rate dropping from 12 percent in April to 11.7 percent in May.

While the Division of Elections has not rolled his candidacy over to "qualified" yet, the Bud Chiles campaign team filed their paperwork to launch his independent gubernatorial campaign. Chiles spokesman Jim McClellan said in a statement, Bud Chiles qualifying papers were filed this morning, shortly before noon. He is on a campaign swing in southwest Florida today and through the weekend. The papers had to be filed by noon today.

The Republican Party of Florida is conducting caucus meetings and training sessions in Tampa today and Saturday. Meetings on Saturday morning will feature reports from U.S. Sen. George LeMieux, U.S. Rep. Adam Putnam, Attorney General Bill McCollum, state Senate President Jeff Atwater and state Rep. Will Weatherford. Sunshine State News will be on hand, blogging from the Grand Hyatt Tampa Bay. Stay tuned.

Filing officially closed at noon today for state political offices. The big news was the deluge of TEA Party candidates running for state House. "We'll have candidates from the Panhandle to Key West," party consultant Doug Guetzloe told Sunshine State News. Orlando area races look particularly hot, as TEA candidates line up to challenge such big-name Republican incumbents as Dean Cannon, Steve Precourt, Chris Dorworth and Bryan Nelson.

U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek, the leading Democratic candidate in the race for the U.S. Senate but facing a tough challenge from Jeff Greene, quickly weighed in on the Agency for Workforce Innovations announcement that Floridas unemployment rate dropped from 12 percent in April to 11.7 percent in May -- and blamed the Republicans.

The state Agency for Workforce just released the unemployment numbers for May. The unemployment rate dropped from 12 percent in April to 11.7 percent for May. While Floridas unemployment rate still far exceeds the national average, it is decreasing at a faster rate. The national figures went down from 9.9 percent in April to 9.7 percent in May.

It's like a scene from the 1984 film "Red Dawn." First we see one parachute drop to the ground, then two. Then more. And all of a sudden the sky is dark with foreign invaders falling on Florida, on our turf, in our back yard. It's happening right now, and this time it's not foreign invaders. It's TEA Partiers. The fake ones who masquerade as grass-roots conservatives but are anything but. They've been invading our Florida House races all day long. And not just any old races.

Bill McCollums campaign team continued their attacks on Rick Scott, the health care executive now leading the Republican gubernatorial contest. In the spirit of openness and transparency, Bill McCollum will release his tax returns in the next 14 days, said McCollum communications director Kristy Campbell. We challenge Rick Scott to do the same. The McCollum campaign continued to blast Scotts record in the private sector.

With Republican Craig Miller starting to run television commercials on his congressional campaign, the Florida Democratic Party blasted the former Ruth's Chris CEO on Thursday. The real Craig Miller opposes common-sense limits on drunk driving, was fired as CEO of Ruth's Chris Steak House for poor financial management, and was given a multimillion-dollar severance package, said a release from the Democrats.

The National Rifle Association and the Unified Sportsmen of Florida, representing 6 million Floridian gun owners, announced they were backing U.S. Rep. Adam Putnam, a Republican from Polk County, to be Floridas next commissioner of agriculture and consumer services.