Florida became a state on March 3, 1845 -- the last full day that John Tyler served as president. That was almost 167 years ago, but despite all that time passing, two of Tylers grandchildren are still alive.

Tyler is probably best known for being the Tyler Too of Tippecanoe and Tyler Too, though he had a tumultuous presidency that was very far from dull. With William Henry Harrison dying a month into his presidency, Tyler faced mass defections from his Cabinet and was a man without a party after he vetoed the Whig proposal to restore the Bank of the United States.

According to a poll of likely Republican primary voters released by Rasmussen Reports on Thursday morning, Mitt Romney has regained a solid lead over Newt Gingrich in Florida, which holds its primary on Tuesday.

Romney leads the poll with 39 percent, followed by Gingrich in second with 31 percent. Rick Santorum stands in third place with 12 percent and Ron Paul follows with 9 percent. Seven percent are undecided and 4 percent back other candidates.

Restaurant executive Craig Miller, who is running in a crowded Republican primary field looking to challenge incumbent Democrat U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, announced on Thursday morning that he is backing Newt Gingrich for president.

With almost every poll showing he is in a tight battle with Newt Gingrich to win the Florida primary on Tuesday, Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney unveiled the support of a large number of Miami-Dade leaders on Wednesday.

I am proud to have the support of these respected leaders, Romney said in a statement. Like me, these leaders believe that our president has failed to lead, and stand ready to join our effort to restore prosperity to America, so the hard-working people and families in every corner of our nation can find jobs and move forward.

A poll of likely primary voters released by Quinnipiac University on Wednesday morning finds that former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich has caught Republican presidential primary rival former Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts in Florida.

"Florida is essentially a dead heat and a two-man race between Gov. Mitt Romney and Speaker Newt Gingrich entering the last week of the campaign," said Peter Brown, the assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute, in a statement on Wednesday.

With Florida holding a crucial primary in the Republican presidential race next Tuesday, Gov. Rick Scott is not taking sides -- but he did praise former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romneys record in the private sector when he appeared on Your World with Neil Cavuto on Fox News on Tuesday.

Asked about Romney releasing his tax reports on Tuesday, Scott offered the presidential hopeful some kind words -- and made a pitch for companies to open shop in the Sunshine State.

Trying to catch Newt Gingrich in Florida, Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney is trotting out some of his leading supporters in the Sunshine State in the last week before the primary.

The Romney camp brought out Connie Mack, the congressman seeking the Republican nomination to take on Democrat incumbent U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson in November, to praise their candidate for releasing his tax returns on Tuesday.

With Mitt Romney stumbling and Republicans fearing that Newt Gingrich would drag down GOP candidates across the country, the drumbeat is growing louder for other candidates to enter the race -- including a favorite son from the Sunshine State.

Democrat incumbent U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, who is seeking a third term in November, continues to draw the fire of Republicans at the national level. The National Republican Senate Committee released a Web video on Tuesday slamming Nelson for being part of the Democratic Senate majority that continues to fumble in passing a budget after 1,000 days.

With his son, U.S. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., involved in an incident with the Transportation Security Administration at an airport on Monday morning, Republican presidential hopeful U.S. Rep. Ron Paul of Texas came out swinging at that federal agency.

The police state in this country is growing out of control.One of the ultimate embodiments of this is the TSA that gropes and grabs our children, our seniors, and our loved ones and neighbors with disabilities. The TSA does all of this while doing nothing to keep us safe, Paul said in a statement on Monday.