Rick Santorum is taking aim at Republican presidential rival Newt Gingrich in a new radio ad. Santorum slams Gingrich in the ad for proposing increased money on space exploration, including his comment that he would be open to seeing the moon colonized.

Reckless spending has led to a 15 trillion-dollar national debt, the narrator of Santorums ad says. That's $50,000 of debt for every person in America ... and it's crushing our economic recovery. And what's does Newt Gingrich suggest? Spending half a trillion dollars on a moon colony.

Florida state Rep. Pat Rooney, R-Palm Beach Gardens, announced on Friday that he was backing former U.S. Sen. George LeMieux for the Republican nomination to take on Democrat incumbent U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson in November.

"I am honored to have the endorsement of State Representative Pat Rooney. Representative Rooney is a proven leader in both business and public service," said LeMieux in a statement. "His endorsement adds to the growing momentum of our campaign to defeat Bill Nelson and save America from career politicians."

Earlier this week, former House Majority Leader Adam Hasner jumped out of the Republican primaryto challenge Democrat incumbent U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson and into a run for Congress-- and he reeled in a big endorsement for his new campaign on Friday when U.S. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., announced that he is backing Hasner.

At a meeting on Friday of the Florida House Business and Consumer Affairs Subcommittee, Rep. Erik Fresen, R-Miami, moved to temporarily postpone his bill to expand casino gambling in the Sunshine State -- killing the legislation for the session.

Casino bill is dying, posted Rep. Michael Bileca, R-West Miami, on his Twitter account. Great news for our community. The process continues.

A moment later, Bileca added on Twitter, Bill officially dead.

While the national unemployment rate dropped to 8.3 percent in January, according to a report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics released on Friday, Republicans responded that the economy continued to face severe problems.

After his big win in the Florida primary on Tuesday, Republican hopeful Mitt Romney is looking to focus his fire on President Barack Obama -- though, of course, there are still three GOP candidates standing in the way of him and the partys nomination.

The Romney team fired away at Obama as they unveiled a new website hammering the president on a number of fronts.

With Arizona holding its Republican presidential primary on Feb. 28, a Rasmussen Reports poll released on Thursday finds Mitt Romney holds a commanding lead there.

Romney leads the poll of likely primary voters with 48 percent, followed by Newt Gingrich with 24 percent. Rick Santorum stands in third with 13 percent while Ron Paul lags with 6 percent. Six percent remain undecided and 2 percent are for other candidates.

The poll of 750 likely Arizona Republican primary voters was taken Feb. 1 and had a margin of error of +/- 4 percent.

With Donald Trump off to Nevada on Thursday -- and rumors increasing that he will endorse a candidate for the Republican presidential nomination -- the team behind Ron Paul took aim at the billionaire.

Former U.S. Sen. George LeMieux, now running in the Republican primary to challenge Democrat incumbent U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, unveiled his Okaloosa County campaign team on Thursday.

I am proud to announce my Victory Team for Okaloosa County, a vital component of Floridas military presence, said LeMieux in the statement. While in the U.S. Senate, I sat on the Armed Services Committee and made it a priority to protect Floridas military bases. When I return to the Senate, I will fight for our men and women in uniform in Florida and throughout the world.

George Romney based his political career in Michigan -- and the Great Lake State is shaping up for a win for his son Mitt when it holds its Republican primary on Feb. 28, according to a Rasmussen Reports poll released on Thursday.

Romney leads the poll of likely primary voters with 38 percent, followed by Newt Gingrich with 23 percent, Rick Santorum with 17 percent and Ron Paul with 14 percent. Six percent remain undecided, while 1 percent back other candidates.