Tea party favorite U.S. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., was elected to the Senate in November and said he is open to running for the Republican presidential nomination. The Charleston Post and Courier is reporting that Paul spoke in South Carolina, the first Southern state to hold a primary, and expressed interest in running, provided his father, U.S. Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, is not in the race. The elder Paul pulled 3.6 percent in South Carolina when he ran for the GOP nod back in 2008.

A bill that would reduce premiums for insurance policyholders, proponents say,narrowly passed through the Senate Budget Committee Tuesday, but not before an amendmentoffered by Sen. Mike Fasano, R-New Port Richey,was tacked on, which stripped the billof one of its main provisions.

Rep. Ritch Workman, R-Melbourne, offered the third in his series of video updates on the legislative session. In the video, Workman focused on a number of issues including the House passing teacher performance pay reform and a committee moving through a motion on pension reform for state employees.

Former House Majority Leader Adam Hasner continues to raise his profile as it appears very likely that he will enter what could be a potentially crowded Republican primary to take on Democratic U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson in 2012. Hasner was the focus of a friendly piece over at National Review, the iconic conservative magazine, earlier in the month. On Monday, he appeared on the Mark Levin radio show -- and certainly sounded like a candidate.

President Barack Obamas policies in regard to Libya are drawing fire from both the left and the right in Florida.

Republican U.S. Tom Rooney, a member of the House Armed Services Committee, said on Monday that Obama was being too vague about the mission and needed congressional approval to continue American air strikes.

On Monday, Gov. Rick Scott announced his picks to head up two agencies he would like to merge, naming Dr. Frank Farmer as Florida's surgeon general and keeping Liz Dudek on as the secretary of the Agency for Health Care Administration.

As surgeon general, Dr. Farmer will also oversee the Department of Health, which Gov. Scott has sought to consolidate with AHCA and other state agencies.

Jacksonville goes to the polls on Tuesday to help determine who the next mayor is going to be. None of the candidates is expected to pull a majority of the vote on Tuesday -- meaning the two top candidates will square off in a few weeks to see who replaces term-limited Mayor John Peyton.

Former Gov. Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota announced on Monday afternoon that he was forming an exploratory committee to run for the Republican presidential nomination. Pawlenty made the announcement via a web video which was only accessible to people who liked his page on Facebook. In the ad, which lasted less than two minutes, Pawlenty focused on the economy and called for optimism on the economy, mentioning Ronald Reagan. Pawlenty is the fourth major candidate to announce that he is forming an exploratory committee, joining former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich, former Gov.

While Congress continues to look to cut the budget, freshman Florida Republican U.S. Rep. Sandy Adams joined Republican U.S. Rep. Pete Olson of Texas in sending House Budget Committee Chairman U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin a letter arguing that the budget needs to make human space exploration a major priority.

Florida Commissioner of Education Eric Smith, who has held that position since 2007, announced on Monday that he would step down from his post in June.