Republican U.S. Senate candidate Marco Rubio reeled in more than $4.5 million for the second quarter of 2010 -- the largest amount a candidate in Florida ever brought in for a single quarter, breaking a record that had been held by Rubios chief rival in the race, Gov. Charlie Crist, who left the GOP and is now running as an independent.

U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meeks camp is counting down until Thursday, when its chief rival for the Democratic nomination in the U.S. Senate race, Jeff Greene, has to file his campaign finance report.

Wondering what's become of former U.S. Sen. Mel Martinez?

JP Morgan Chase and Co. has hired him as chairman for Florida, Mexico and the Caribbean.

The Republican Party of Florida took a shot atits former standard bearer Gov. Charlie Crist --who left the GOP to continue his campaign for the U.S. Senate seat to run without party affiliation. The RPOF sent out a release linking to the Web video released on Monday by former House Speaker Marco Rubio, the likely Republican candidate in the race, trashing Crist for calling a special session of the Legislature for political purposes.

Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink is urging the Legislatures presiding officers to pass measures authorizing tax relief and other financial aid for businesses and individuals affected by the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

Gov. Charlie Crist has said that the special session, scheduled from Tuesday of next week to Friday, willconcentrate only on advancing a state constitutional ban on offshore oil drilling through the Legislature in time to get it on the November ballot.

The Florida Pipe Trades union, representing more than 12,000 Floridians, announced on Monday that it was backing Sen. Dan Gelber, D-Miami Beach, for attorney general.

The members of the Florida Pipe Trades are proud to endorse Senator Dan Gelber in his campaign for attorney general, said Florida Pipe Trades union rep John Lindstrom. The union endorsed Gov. Charlie Crist for the U.S. Senate earlier in the month.

Former House Speaker Marco Rubio, the likely Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate election, released a Web video on Monday morning blasting rival independent candidate Gov. Charlie Crist for calling a special session of the Legislature next week.

The finance numbers for the second quarter of 2010, which ended on June 30, are slowly creeping in from political campaigns across the state. With federal campaign reports due in by July 15, some of the figures are now available. State candidates report their figures later in the month.

Former Tallahassee Mayor Scott Maddox, the Democratic candidate for state agriculture and consumer services commissioner, praised U.S. Sen. Bill Nelsons bill, authorizing the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to study the ecological and other impacts the oil spill in the Gulf will have in the years to come.

The campaign team for Republican gubernatorial candidate Rick Scott lashed into their chief rival for the GOP nomination, Attorney General Bill McCollum, in very harsh terms. Joe Kildea, a spokesman for the Scott campaign, blasted McCollum for his campaigns newest ad.