Ten Republicans broke ranks Tuesday to help Democrats defeat the union-opposed plan to privatize correctional facilities in Central and South Florida.

The Senate voted 19-21 to defeat SB 2038, which would have allowed private companies to bid on running one or all-but-one of 26 correctional facilities as the state sought to save at least $16.5 million a year. The bill included a provision prohibiting any single company from having a monopoly over all of the facilities.

Florida's new 9th Congressional District is designated for "Latino access," but so far, the majority of candidates seeking the Central Florida seat are non-Hispanic.

Former Rep. Alan Grayson appears to have the inside track to the Democratic nomination. Having represented more than a third of the current constituency of CD 9 -- until he was ousted by Daniel Webster in 2010 -- Grayson has the name recognition and the war chest to shut down primary competition and wage a general election campaign.

Seems odd to me why a Florida senator would want to continue a system that exposes thousands of Floridians to identity theft. But Jack Latvala is sticking to Florida's turkey of a law like a cheap suit in the rain.

Americans pride themselves on being a self-reliant people. We know that the freedom to make our own fortune sets us apart from the people of many other nations. Its what has drawn to our shores generations of immigrants -- men and women risking their lives to live a life in which they, not the government, are in charge.

A poll released on Tuesday finds Democratic incumbent U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson will be sweating it out to win a third term in November.

The poll of likely Florida voters from Rasmussen Reports shows Nelson, who has been on the public stage for four decades, fails to break 50 percent against any of the three leading Republican candidates and is tied with U.S. Rep. Connie Mack, whose father held the seat for two terms before Nelson.

Faced with a credibility problem in the eyes ofsome of the states top lawmakers, one of Florida's oldest and most influential business advocacy organizations reached for a big gun -- a top-tier veteran who ran the House when many of those same lawmakers were still learning to navigate the maze of the Capitol hallways.

Gov. Rick Scott says hell be surprised if the Florida Senate rejects the proposal to privatize correctional facilities in Central and South Florida as a vote is expected Tuesday.

Senators narrowly kept alive the bill on Monday when they rejected an amendment -- proposed by Sen. Mike Fasano, R-New Port Richey -- to the bill, SB 2038, that would potentially postpone any action this session by requiring a time-consuming study.

A House panel moved forward Monday with a bill aimed at helping doctors fend off medical-malpractice lawsuits -- but a proposal to offer sovereign immunity to emergency-room physicians appears dead.

Also, it remained unclear whether the House would go along with a controversial Senate proposal that would tie medical-malpractice changes with additional drug-prescribing powers for optometrists. That proposal stems from a deal between the Florida Medical Association and optometrists, longtime opponents on the prescribing issue.

Although Barack Obama is the first black president of the United States, he is by no means unique, except for his complexion. He follows in the footsteps of other presidents with a similar vision, the vision at the heart of the Progressive movement that flourished a hundred years ago.

Republican presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich is starting to feel the heat from conservatives to get out of the race as conservatives slip away from him to back Rick Santorum.

On Monday, National Review, one of the leading conservative publications of American conservatism since 1955, called upon Gingrich to end his bid for the Republican nomination in favor of Santorum.