There are 50 delegates on the line in the Alabama Republican primary on Tuesday and, according to a poll released on Monday from American Research Group (ARG), Newt Gingrich holds a small lead.

With the support of a majority of voters who say they are supporters of the tea party movement, Gingrich leads the poll of likely primary voters with 34 percent followed by Mitt Romney with 31 percent. Rick Santorum takes third place with 24 percent with Ron Paul lags behind with 6 percent, while 4 percent remain undecided and 1 percent back other candidates.

With Mississippi holding its Republican presidential primary on Tuesday, a poll released Monday shows Mitt Romney with a narrow lead over Newt Gingrich in the Magnolia State. There are 40 delegates at stake in the primary.

Romney leads the American Research Group (ARG) poll of likely Republican primary voters with 34 percent, with Gingrich right on his heels with 32 percent. Rick Santorum stands in third place with 22 percent with Ron Paul taking 8 percent, while 3 percent remain undecided and 1 percent back other candidates.

As the session wound down, the Florida Senate voted Friday night to join the House and back the personal injury protection reform that Gov. Rick Scott made one of his chief priorities. The measure passed 22-17.

This is a triumphant moment for the residents of Florida, Scott said in a statement. "Members of the Legislature heard our call to put Floridians ahead of special interests and combat the fraud that has become a billion-dollar tax on drivers.

As the Florida Legislature faced the last hours of the session on Friday, Gov. Rick Scott released his weekly radio address and praised lawmakers for adding $1 billion to education in the budget they would be voting on later that day.

Incoming Senate President Don Gaetz, R-Niceville, has been leading redistricting in the Florida Senate and he weighed in on Friday afternoon on a state Supreme Court decision that found that eight of the 40 Senate seats his committee drew up did not pass constitutional muster.

On the last day of the 2012 session, the Florida Senate rejected the Parent Empowerment Act, more popularly known asthe Parent Trigger Act.

A poll from American Research Group released on Friday finds Newt Gingrich leading the pack of Republican presidential candidates in Mississippi, which holds a primary Tuesday with 40 delegates on the line.

Gingrich takes 35 percent in the poll of likely primary voters, followed by Mitt Romney with 31 percent and Rick Santorum in third with 20 percent. Ron Paul places fourth with 7 percent and 7 percent remain undecided.

The poll of 600 likely Mississippi Republican primary voters was taken March 7-8 and had a margin of error of +/- 4 percent.

Alabama holds its Republican presidential primary on Tuesday with 50 delegates on the line and a Rasmussen Reports poll unveiled on Friday shows it will be a tight battle.

The poll of likely primary voters finds Newt Gingrich leading with 30 percent followed by Rick Santorum with 29 percent and Mitt Romney with 28 percent. Ron Paul lags far behind with 7 percent while 1 percent back other candidates and 6 percent are undecided.

The poll of 750 likely Alabama Republican primary voters was taken on March 8 and had a margin of error of +/- 4 percent.

On Friday, Florida Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam cheered the House's passage of the energy bill he has been pushing in the 2012 session. With the House passing the measure 116-2, it is now on its way to Gov. Rick Scott. Two Republicans voted against the measure, Eric Eisnaugle of Orlando and Marlene O'Toole of The Villages.

The Department of Labor Statistics unveiled the latest national unemployment figures on Friday and, while there were an additional 227,000 non-farm jobs added to the economy in February, the unemployment rate remained unchanged -- 8.3 percent. There remain almost 13 million unemployed in the United States.

But look deeper. The numbers produced on Friday are not exactly reassuring.