After 10 Glorious Years, Sunshine State News and I Are Passing the Baton

Former Agency for Health Care Adminstration Secretary Holly Benson, currently running in a close battle for the Republican attorney general nomination, endorsed Attorney General Bill McCollum over Rick Scott in the bitter contest to win the Republican gubernatorial nod. Republicans in Florida can count on Bill McCollums unwavering, conservative credentials, said Benson. Just like Attorney General McCollum has stood up against Obamacare by leading the lawsuit against its implementation, he can be counted on to fight against Washington trampling on our state rights.

The April 20 Deepwater Horizon disaster is far from over for Florida. Vast concentrations of BP oil toxic to marine life may have settled to the floor of the Gulf of Mexico just off Panama City, according to a report due to be released later Tuesday. Researchers from the University of South Florida, back Monday night from a fact-finding excursion in the Gulf, say they will release their report later Tuesday.

Reports are flying in that state CFO Alex Sink, the likely Democratic gubernatorial candidate, will announce on Thursday that she has picked former Sen. Rod Smith, who lost to former U.S. Rep. Jim Davis for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination in 2006, as her running mate for lieutenant governor. Smith, who has been the subject of speculation for weeks as the most likely choice to be Sinks understudy, hails from Alachua County in the northern part of the state. He also served two terms as a state attorney.

There have been few politicians in Florida who backed President Barack Obamas support of a mosque being built two blocks away from Ground Zero in downtown Manhattan. Even Democrats like state CFO Alex Sink and U.S. Senate candidate Jeff Greene have broken with the president -- and they have been joined at the national level by U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.