In a rare battle matching two incumbents of the Florida House of Representatives against each other, Rep. Jose Felix Diaz, R-Miami, has the financial edge over Rep. Ana Rivas Logan, R-Miami, with a month to go until the Republican primary Aug. 14.

The two representatives were both first elected to the Florida House in 2010 to represent parts of Miami-Dade. But, after the redistricting process earlier in the year, the two are pitted against each other in HD 116 to see who will emerge with a second term to continue representing parts of Miami-Dade.

While his district has shifted farther south, state Sen. John Thrasher, R-St. Augustine, looks in excellent shape as he seeks to continue his career on the Florida political stage.

A Tallahassee judge has sided with online travel companies like Expedia and Orbitz in a dispute over local tax obligations -- a blow to counties that have argued the companies weren't paying enough.

After hearing arguments last month, Circuit Judge Terry Lewis on Friday ruled that the online travel sites only owe local hotel taxes on the discounted amounts they actually pay for rooms, not the marked up rates that travelers pay.

The first criterion in choosing a vice president, it is said, is that he or she must be qualified to be president.

A storm is brewing over the credibility of Citizens Property Insurance's board of directors. Some directors are expected to seek a rate hike that exceeds the 10 percent cap set by the Legislature.

During a workshop at the luxurious J.W. Marriott in downtown Miami on Monday, board members agreed to consider rates later this month that may top the cap, instead of first getting approval from state legislators. The approval process would require waiting until the 2013 regular session.

Obama surrogates swooped into Florida Friday to drop $80 million in federal subsidies for conservation easements north of Lake Okeechobee. Thats fancy talk for paying landowners to hold water.

Gov. Rick Scott laid out a challenge to state supervisors of elections to restart his effort to find noncitizens from among the lists of registered voters now that the federal government will make a long-sought database available to Florida.

The supervisors, busy Monday with the final day of registration for the Aug. 14 election, said they will address the review on Tuesday.

While she faces a Republican primary foe in House District 11 in August, Rep. Janet Adkins, R-Fernandina Beach, remains the favorite in her bid for a third term in the Florida House of Representatives. On Monday she unveiled the support of former Gov. Jeb Bush as she seeks to continue representing parts of the First Coast.

As she looks to extend her lengthy political career, state Sen. Gwen Margolis, D-Miami, is feeling the heat as her Republican opponent in SD 35 posted an impressive fundraising haul in his first month on the campaign trail in Miami-Dade County.

A veteran politician who was first elected to the House in 1974, Margolis is currently in her third stint in the Florida Senate. She served as Senate president in the early 1990s and spent almost a decade on the Miami-Dade County Commission, including six years as chairperson.