Florida Sen. John Thrasher, R-St. Augustine, the chairman of Gov. Rick Scott's re-election committee, came out swinging at former Gov. Crist on Monday. Crist, the favorite for the Democratic nomination despite spending most of his political life with the GOP, released his first television ad on Monday.

The Florida Lottery announced record high sales in its last fiscal year. During that time, the lottery generated $5.36 billion in sales and almost $1.5 billion of that went to help Florida schools.

Libertarian candidate Adrian Wyllie is steamed that he has been excluded from a gubernatorial forum being held later this week in Coral Gables. Wyllie sent a letter to the Florida Press Association (FPA) and the Florida Society of Newspaper Editors (FSNE) over the weekend demanding to be included in the forum, adding he would attend the event on Thursday.

You may either allow me to participate in the forum, or you may have me arrested, Wyllie wrote.

The letter is as follows:

A congresswoman and congressman from Florida met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last week, weighing in on the recent murders of three Israeli teens and other Middle Eastern matters. U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Fla., the chairwoman of the House Middle East and North Africa Subcommittee, and U.S. Rep. Ted Deutch, D-Fla., the ranking Democrat on the committee, met with Netanyahu on Thursday and weighed in afterward with a joint statement:

Gov. Rick Scott will be showcasing his record on crime this week in his Lets Keep Florida Safe tour of the Sunshine State and he unveiled an endorsement to help his crime-fighting credentials on Monday. The Florida Police Chiefs Association (FPCA) announced it was backing Scott for another term.

Police chiefs across the state of Florida are thankful for the support of Gov. Scott regarding law enforcement and public safety, said Jupiter Police Chief Frank Kitzerow, the president of the FPCA.

Opening arguments began this week at a state courthouse in Miami as a judge ponders a challenge to the Florida Constitutions recognition of only traditional marriage in the Sunshine State -- and a leading conservative is not happy with the judges performance.

On Thursday. U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan, R-Fla., pointed to a study from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) which shows deaths due to narcotic painkillers dropped in Florida by 26 percent from 2010 to 2012.

I applaud Attorney General Bondi and the Florida Legislature for making great strides on such a critical issue, said Buchanan. It is truly a remarkable success. We are one step closer to curbing an epidemic that wreaks havoc on countless families and communities across our state.

Florida-based Republican Dr. Ben Carson, while making a pitch for the Washington Times where he writes a weekly column, contrasted todays culture with when he grew up and offered a stark view of what young people currently face.

Florida House candidate Blaise Ingoglia announced on Wednesday that his campaign to replace term-limited Rep. Rob Schenck, R-Spring Hill, had won the endorsement of House Speaker Will Weatherford, R-Wesley Chapel.

On Wednesday, Gov. Rick Scott and Lt. Gov. Carlos Lopez-Cantera wrote to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), insisting it was targeting the Tampa-based J.C. Newman Cigar Co. The letter reads as follows:

During the early 1900s, Tampa (later to be known as Cigar City), boasted more than 150 cigar factories and produced more than half a billion cigars each year. Now the only remaining cigar factory in Tampa, the J.C. Newman Cigar Company, is threatened for extinction because of rules being promulgated by your agency.