Software company owner Ron Rushing scored a win over Senate Majority Leader Andy Gardiner, R-Orlando, in a straw poll held over the Labor Day weekend in Sanford.

Rushing, who was briefly a candidate for the Republican nomination to take on Democratic U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, took 119 votes in the straw poll held at the A Conservative Roar. Gardiner, who represents parts of Orange, Osceola and Seminole counties, took 51 votes.

Over the Labor Day weekend, Central Florida businessman Craig Miller won a straw poll over his rivals in the Republican primary to challenge incumbent Democrat U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson.

In the straw poll held by A Conservative Roar in Sanford, Miller, a Vietnam veteran and former CEO of Ruth's Chris, took first place with 67 votes followed by businessman and retired Army officer Mike McCalister in second with 62 votes. Former state House Majority Leader Adam Hasner garnered 39 votes, ahead of former U.S. Sen. George LeMieux who recieved 34 votes.

A poll released by Rasmussen Reports on Labor Day found that Texas Gov. Rick Perry was leading the pack of Republican presidential candidates in Iowa, home of the first 2012 caucus.

Perry topped the survey of likely caucus voters with 29 percent. U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota, who won the Iowa Republican straw poll held in Ames last month, placed second with 18 percent. Former Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts placed third with 17 percent. U.S. Rep. Ron Paul of Texas, who finished a strong second behind Bachmann in Ames, took fourth with 14 percent.

With the Presidency 5 straw poll in Orlando and two debates in Florida coming up later this month, Gov. Rick Perry of Texas is ramping up his efforts as he continues his bid for the Republican presidential nomination.

U.S. Rep. Ron Paul of Texas is taking aim at a fellow Republican from the Lone Star State -- Gov. Rick Perry. Both Paul and Perry are running for the Republican presidential nomination and, with Perry topping most of the polls, Paul is looking to ground the current front-runner. In the new ad, Paul brings up Perrys past, including backing Al Gore for the Democratic presidential nomination back in 1988.

Michigan Congressman Thad McCotter has not gotten much notice in his bid for the Republican presidential nomination so far. That could change now that the McCotter campaign is turning up the heat on President Barack Obama.

In an e-mail sent out late Monday, the McCotter camp ripped into Obama arguing the president has proven unable or unwilling to understand the central problem in our economy: that it is the marketplace, not the government, that creates good, well-paying jobs for Main Street.

The Republican National Committee (RNC) looked to get ahead of President Barack Obamas speech on jobs on Thursday by releasing a radio ad in Florida and seven other states. The ad is being run in states that Obama won in 2008 but that Republicans think they can pick up in 2012 --they are Colorado, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

Having won the Iowa Republican straw poll in August, GOP presidential hopeful U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota is having a bit of rearranging on her campaign staff. Political legend Ed Rollins, who led Ronald Reagans re-election effort in 1984, will be stepping down as campaign manager due to health reasons and will serving as a senior adviser to Bachmann.

With Labor Day having come and gone, the Republican presidential candidates are starting to take off the gloves and rip into each other. Former Gov. Jon Huntsman of Utah took aim at former Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts on Tuesday. In a new web video, the Huntsman team compared Romney to President Barack Obama on the economy.

Florida Republican U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio weighed in on Friday on the news that the national unemployment rate remained at 9.1 percent in August -- the same as it was in July.