While Attorney General Bill McCollum appears to be an underdog in his bid for the Republican gubernatorial nomination, he is still garnering support -- and on Wednesday the Florida Retail Federation PAC endorsed him.

With less than three weeks to go in the close contest between Sen. Dave Aronberg of Greenacres and Sen. Dan Gelber of Miami Beach for the Democratic attorney general nomination, Gelber picked up a big endorsement on Wednesday morning when the Service Employees International Union, with more than 45,000 Floridians in its ranks, announced they were backing him.

On Tuesday night, with less than three weeks until the primary elections, four of the six candidates running to be Floridas next attorney general spoke at a candidates forum sponsored by the Tallahassee Bar Association.

Both of the Democratic candidates in the race, Sen. Dan Gelber of Miami Beach and Sen. Dave Aronberg of Greenacres, attended the event. So did former Agency for Health Care Administration Secretary Holly Benson who is running for the Republican nomination. Former Assistant State Attorney Jim Lewis, who is running as an independent, was also in attendance.

Rep. Scott Plakon, R-Longwood, filed a request with Attorney General Bill McCollum on Tuesday to see what Floridas options were in passing stricter measures regarding illegal immigration now that a federal judge has struck down parts of Arizonas SB 1070 law.

With incoming Senate President Mike Haridopolos, R-Merritt Island, launching his tour across the state on Wednesday to focus on Medicaid and health-care matters, Executive Vice President Timothy J. Stapleton of the Florida Medical Association (FMA) praised the senator for taking on these issues.

Former Tallahassee Mayor Scott Maddox, the Democratic candidate for the state Agriculture and Consumer Services commissioner race, blasted U.S. Rep. Adam Putnam, his Republican rival, over issues arising from the oil spill in the Gulf.

Maddox targeted Putnam for opposing a measure in the U.S. House that would end the $75 million liability limit on oil spill damages as well as his past support of drilling. Maddox also fired away at Putnam for not filing a measure to stop BP from getting a $10 billion tax write-off for its expenses incombating the oil spill.

Rep. David Rivera, R-Miami, running for the congressional seat that U.S. Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart is vacating has launched his first TV commercial. Not quite an introductory ad, Riveras team has crafted a solid and generally positive commercial linking education, the economy and family values. Conservatives will be heartened by Rivera saying that jobs are not created by Washington but by people outside it.

U.S. Sen George LeMieux may only be in office for the rest of the year but he is showing no signs of slowing down -- leading to increased speculation that he might be back in 2012 to win election to the Senate in his own right.

A day after writing to Hugo Chavez that he intended to continue the fight for the American government to list Venezuela as a state sponsor of terrorism, Republican U.S. Rep. Connie Mack of Florida did just that, sending a letter to President Barack Obama, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

Former House Speaker Marco Rubio, the heavy favorite to win the Republican nomination in the U.S. Senate election, continued to focus on calling to reduce federal spending. On Tuesday, Rubio released a web video, calling for the elimination of congressional earmarks. The Rubio campaign promises to release four more videos in the series.