There might not have been much cursing or broken clubs, but there was one way in which Florida politics this week resembled a golf game: Everyone seemed to want a mulligan.

U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio asked for a do-over on his pledge not to run for re-election, three months after Republican voters rejected his presidential bid that prompted the guarantee in the first place. It was a decision that rippled through a campaign season that was beginning in earnest, and candidates at several levels were left scrambling to manage the fallout before Friday's qualifying deadline.

The recent gun massacre at a gay nightclub in Orlando continued to reverberate in Washington, D.C., this week, as Democrats staged a daylong "sit-in" on the floor of the U.S. House calling for a vote on gun legislation.

Specifically, the Democrats said they wanted the Republicans to allow the chamber to debate a "no fly, no buy" bill that would bar people on terrorist watch lists from purchasing firearms. The House GOP leadership didn't immediately give in to the demands, and the incident made news across the country.

Dozens of candidates formally stepped into races for state offices across Florida on Monday, but the most closely watched possible campaigner remained silent about his plans.

Florida might not have been on a train bound for nowhere this week, but there were still times when the state's government and political news felt a lot like "The Gambler.

"You've got to know when to hold 'em," Kenny Rogers sings in the country music classic. "Know when to fold 'em. Know when to walk away. And know when to run."

Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, who was one of the highest-profile Republicans in the state to endorse Donald Trump before his primary win in the state, is now catching heat for her ties to the presumptive GOP presidential nominee.

The most tangible furor facing Bondi concerns an Associated Press report about a donation she received from Trump "around the same time" her office was considering joining an investigation against the businessman's namesake university. Bondi eventually decided not to join the case against Trump's venture.

The game's the thing, or at least it was this week in Florida politics. A judge grappled with the future of high-stakes card games, while a state panel tried to map out a plan for a controversial sport.

The judge in question was dealing with how pari-mutuel facilities are running popular card games. The state panel was the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, facing new pressure to allow another round of bear hunting in Florida.

A Leon County judge Tuesday rejected a wide-ranging challenge to the state's education system, saying lawmakers had met their constitutional obligation to provide a free, high-quality public education for Florida students.

But advocates and parents who filed the lawsuit said they plan to appeal the ruling, potentially laying the groundwork for a landmark opinion by the Florida Supreme Court.

The issues in Florida were driven by questions of authority this week.

Did Florida utility regulators act within their authority by allowing Florida Power & Light to invest ratepayers' money in a controversial Oklahoma natural-gas project? Did the Obama administration overreach with "guidance" dealing with how public schools should treat transgender students? Can an inmate essentially shut down a Death Row appeal being pursued by his attorney?

Next Thursday afternoon, near the end of his "Degrees to Jobs Summit" in Orlando, Gov. Rick Scott will take the stage for a panel discussion with three of the most powerful men in Florida's higher education system.

Attorneys for Democratic Congresswoman Corrine Brown are pushing back against demands that she and her supporters foot the legal bill for groups that defended a new redistricting plan in a federal court battle.
 
In filings last week in U.S. District Court in Tallahassee, Brown's lawyers said her claims against the new map of her district were not "frivolous," as the organizations that defended the map have argued. A three-judge federal panel rejected Brown's claims.