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

On Friday, Gov. Rick Scott said 2,100 new private-sector jobs were created in July. The unemployment rate stayed at 6.2 percent, the same as June. Scott noted on Friday that more than 620,000 jobs had been created in the private sector since he took over from then-Gov. Charlie Crist at the start of 2011. Despite spending most of his political life as a Republican, Crist is the favorite to win the Democratic primary later this month which will determine who takes on Scott in November.

A Florida pastor will be joining a once-and-possible future presidential candidate in a trip to Israel in the days to come. Pastor Doug Bankson of the Victory Church World Outreach Center in Apopka will be joining religious and social conservatives, including former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa., in heading to Israel on Sunday for a three-day trip. Besides preaching in almost every state and around the globe, Bankson has served as president of the Apopka Ministerial Alliance and chaired the Apopka City Chamber of Commerce.

Former Gov. Jeb Bush, the Florida Chamber of Commerce, the Associated Builders and Contractors of Florida and the Florida Trucking Association announced on Thursday they opposed Amendment 2, a proposed state Constitution amendment expanding medical marijuana in the Sunshine State. Bush said on Thursday Amendment 2 would hurt efforts to lure tourists to Florida.

Former U.N. Ambassador John Bolton, a potential Republican presidential hopeful in 2016, waded into Florida politics on Thursday, announcing that he was backing three incumbent Republicans currently serving in Congress -- U.S. Rep. Ron DeSantis, U.S. Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart and U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen -- and throwing his support to Miami-Dade School Board member Carlos Curbelo who is running against U.S. Rep. Joe Garcia, D-Fla.