This morning, former U.S. House Majority Leader Dick Armey, now chairman of FreedomWorks, announced he was backing Attorney General Bill McCollums bid to become the next governor of Florida.

With Rick Scott posing a serious challenge to the attorney general for the Republican nomination, Armey went out of his way to reinforce McCollums conservative credentials.

While the rush of candidates filing under the TEA Party label at the end of last week gained some attention, only 15 of the candidates made the ballot.

Only one TEA Party candidate is going to be running for the Senate -- in the open race to take the seat currently held by Durrell Peaden, R-Crestview. A TEA Party challenger to incoming Senate President Mike Haridopolos, R-Merritt Island, did not qualify on the ballot.

Florida Atlantic University Professor Marshall DeRosa, who had planned to challenge Rep. Maria Sachs, D-Delray Beach, also failed to make the ballot.

Gov. Charlie Crist offered his spin on the new unemployment numbers.

Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink is calling for the attorney managing the independent, $20 billion national oil spill response escrow fund to locate the fund's independent claim's office in Florida.

Rep. Pat Patterson, R-DeLand, a veteran of the House, pulled out of the contest for the Republican nomination for state CFO and turned his focus to running for the Senate seat currently occupied by Sen. Carey Baker, R-Eustis, that comes up in 2012.

I have notified the Division of Elections that I would be switching over, said Patterson on Friday.

Patterson gave a warm endorsement to Senate President Jeff Atwater, R-North Palm Beach, his chief Republican rival in the CFO race.

Former Tallahassee Mayor Scott Maddox has a clear shot at the Democratic nomination to be the next commissioner of agriculture and consumer services. With Thad Hamilton leaving the primary to run as an independent and former Suwannee County Commissioner Randy Hatch pulling out Thursday to back Maddox, former Rep. Rick Minton ended his bid today.

We decided it wasnt in the cards, said Minton. Minton said he was encouraged to make the run, but the dynamics were changed when Maddox entered the race. It kind of sucked the oxygen out of the room.

Former House Speaker and Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate Marco Rubio weighed in on the May unemployment numbers for Florida. The numbers released this morning showed the unemployment rate dropping from 12 percent in April to 11.7 percent in May.

While the Division of Elections has not rolled his candidacy over to "qualified" yet, the Bud Chiles campaign team filed their paperwork to launch his independent gubernatorial campaign. Chiles spokesman Jim McClellan said in a statement, Bud Chiles qualifying papers were filed this morning, shortly before noon. He is on a campaign swing in southwest Florida today and through the weekend. The papers had to be filed by noon today.

U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek, the leading Democratic candidate in the race for the U.S. Senate but facing a tough challenge from Jeff Greene, quickly weighed in on the Agency for Workforce Innovations announcement that Floridas unemployment rate dropped from 12 percent in April to 11.7 percent in May -- and blamed the Republicans.

The state Agency for Workforce just released the unemployment numbers for May. The unemployment rate dropped from 12 percent in April to 11.7 percent for May. While Floridas unemployment rate still far exceeds the national average, it is decreasing at a faster rate. The national figures went down from 9.9 percent in April to 9.7 percent in May.