The Republicans running for Marco Rubio’s seat should be prepared to spend another six months in political limbo as the presidential race eclipses them. 

The GOP presidential contest is dominating the attention of activists and primary voters, even more so with Donald Trump commanding center stage. Add in Florida-based candidates like Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio, a surging Carly Fiorina, conservative favorites like Ted Cruz and Ben Carson, making it harder for the Senate candidates to get much notice. 

What happened this week at the Florida Capitol obviously pales in comparison to Friday's historic hoisting of Old Glory in Cuba.

But U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry's words, delivered 90 miles away from the Sunshine State Friday morning, were apropos to the Legislature's challenge about where to draw the lines for Florida's congressional districts.

Kerry, in Havana to reopen the U.S. embassy in Cuba for the first time in more than half a century, called the occasion an opportunity "for pushing aside old barriers and exploring new possibilities."

The Florida delegation was the heart of the opposition in the Republican caucus to U.S. House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, earlier this year and there could soon be another member from the Sunshine State against the Ohio congressman -- Gwen Graham opponent Mary Thomas.

With the Obama administration reopening the American embassy in Havana on Friday, two Republican presidential candidates, who worked up the Florida political ladder, expressed their opposition this week. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry represented the U.S. at the flag raising in Havana as the embassy was reopened. 

The battle over boundaries for Florida's 27 congressional districts began in earnest Thursday, with a state House committee approving a plan while senators considered overhauling the same proposal --- and as a congresswoman continued pressing her case that the map would harm black voters.

Friday marks the 70th anniversary of V-J Day as World War II ended and the Sunshine State is marking the occasion. While the official Japanese surrender did not take place until Sep. 2 on the decks of the USS Missouri, hostilities ended on Aug. 14, 1945, with news sweeping the nation which had been engaged in World War II for three and a half years. 

A heated Corrine Brown headed to the Florida Capitol Thursday to voice her concerns over Florida’s congressional redistricting, and Brown left no holds barred as she tore into the state’s political process on drawing district lines.

Republican congressional hopeful Brian Mast is going national even as another candidate entered the crowded primary field to replace U.S. Rep. Patrick Murphy, D-Fla., who is running for the Senate in 2016. Mast, a combat veteran who was wounded during his service in Afghanistan, took to Glenn Beck’s radio show this week to weigh in on President Barack Obama’s deal with Iran over its nuclear program and the need to reform veterans’ health care. 

The Democratic primary to replace U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., is heating up with U.S. Rep. Patrick Murphy, D-Fla., finally throwing punches back at his chief primary rival. U.S. Rep. Alan Grayson, D-Fla., has shown no hesitation in going after Murphy and, on Wednesday afternoon, he doubled down on his attacks against his primary rival. 

Ah, Florida. The land where the sun shines and palm trees sway has always held a special place in the heart of college students, who often come to the Sunshine State for spring break. It’s a seemingly picture-perfect paradise, at least on the surface.