On Thursday, the team behind former state House Majority Leader Adam Hasner, who is running in the Republican primary to challenge Democratic U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson in 2012, launched a new video ad against GOP rival former U.S. Sen. George LeMieux. The ad links LeMieux to the man who appointed him to the U.S. Senate -- former Gov. Charlie Crist. LeMieux had been a close associate and former chief of staff to Crist who left the Republicans during the 2010 U.S. Senate race.

On Wednesday, noted pundit Jonathan Alter, best known for his decades at Newsweek and now with Bloomberg View, posted the news on Twitter that there could be one more Republican presidential candidate entering the race soon -- Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey.

My sources say New Jersey Governor Chris Christie is conducting focus groups in preparation for a possible run for president in 2012, wrote Alter.

While his bid for the Republican presidential nomination is flopping in the polls at the national level and in most states, former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman announced that he had garnered the endorsements of two prominent Florida Republicans -- state Sen. Ellyn Bogdanoff, R-Fort Lauderdale, and Coral Gables Mayor Jim Cason.

More than two decades after then-Mayor Tommy Hazouri of Jacksonville led the fight against them, tolls are returning to the First Coast.

Florida Republican U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanans bill to open up the bicameral supercomittee, tasked under the recent federal debt-ceiling deal to cut spending, received some conservative support on Wednesday when the National Taxpayers Union (NTU) backed the bill.

The NTU, which has been fighting for decades for lower taxes and smaller government, sent letters to all members of Congress urging them to back Buchanans bill, which is sponsored by U.S. Sen. Dean Heller, R-Nev., in the Senate.

The Florida Democratic Party revealed the keynote speaker at their state convention in October -- Vice President Joe Biden.

"Vice President Bidens attendance sends a clear message about the importance of our state in this years presidential election, said party Chairman Rod Smith. Our states 29 electoral votes are crucial to ensuring this nation continues to move forward over the next four years. We are honored that he will attend and help us kick-off the 2012 election."

The event will be held on Oct. 28 at Lake Buena Vista.

Former U.S. Sen. George LeMieux, now running in a crowded Republican primary to take on Democratic U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson in 2012, announced on Wednesday that he had been endorsed by the National Tax Limitation Committee PAC (NTLC PAC).

Former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania surprised more than a few pundits by placing fourth in the Iowa straw poll in Ames on Saturday. He is trumpeting his showing in a new web ad complete with a series of quotes looking to bolster his candidacy. Santorum is an underdog in the race but, as the debate on Thursday showed, he could be a factor in the race, especially as he has shown no reluctance to go after the other Republican candidates on social issues and foreign policy.

The Florida Supreme Court issued a ruling Tuesday outlawing an executive order issued by Gov. Rick Scott halting all new rules and mandating executive approval before implementation.

Scott wanted to decrease the amount of new and existing rules and regulations promulgated by state agencies, saying they impede job creation. But the Supreme Court ruled his executive order encroached upon the legislative branch and the authority of the Legislature to enact policy and direct rule-making procedures.

Scott disagreed with the decision.

According to Stephen Hayes at the Weekly Standard, a new name could be entering the already crowded Republican presidential primaries -- U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, the chief architect of the GOPs federal budget proposal earlier in the year. Hayes reports that Ryan is seriously considering entering the contest.