The United States District Court for the District of Columbia denied approval Thursday evening to part of Floridas 2011 elections law, as it applies to five of the states counties.

The panel of three judges, each of them an appointee of former President Bill Clinton, determined that the provisions reducing the early voting period will have the effect of denying or abridging the right to vote of minorities living in Collier, Hardee, Hendry, Hillsborough, and Monroe counties.

North Central Floridas new Republican congressional nominee is a self-styled conservative Christian Republican with a libertarian slant who plans to take a hatchet to thousands of pages of federal regulations, beginning with the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

In what may well be one of the greatest congressional upsets in Florida history, large-animal veterinarian and political newcomer Ted Yoho scored a very narrow victory over 12-term congressman Cliff Stearns, R-Ocala, in one of Tuesdays most hotly contested primary races.

Stearns trailed Yoho 34 percent to 33 percent, losing by only 829 of the nearly 64,000 votes cast in the race.

Early returns show 10-term Congressman John Mica, R-Winter Park, handily defeating freshman Congresswoman Sandy Adams, R-Orlando, in a volatile race that saw the rare spectacle of two incumbents facing off in a primary as a result of earlier congressional redistricting. Early returns show Mica carrying the race with about 61 percent of the votes.

Incumbent Congressman Allen West has handily won his partys nomination in the Republican primary in Floridas U.S. Congressional District 18.

By 9 p.m. on the coast, well-funded West had 74 percent of the vote to Martin County Sheriff Bob Crowder's 26 percent.

Crowder was widely considered a long shot for the nomination, after he alienated himself from much of his partys conservative base in 2010 when he endorsed Democrat Alex Sink in the 2010 Florida gubernatorial race.

In a race that has seen several twists and turns, Connie Mack IVs landslide victory in the Republican Senate primary Tuesday came as a surprise to very few. The four-term congressman from Fort Myers will face Democratic incumbent Bill Nelson in the Nov. 6 general election.

Cries of glee and exultation from much of Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romneys center-right base met the former Massachusetts governor's selection of Congressman Paul Ryan, R-Wis. as his running mate.

Both so-called social conservatives and tea partiers, and even some libertarians, are hailing the pick as a kind of victory for traditional values and/or fiscal restraint.

Judge Thomas P. Crapps of the Florida Division of Administrative Hearings will issue a final ruling in two weeks, regarding implementation of a controversial new elections law, HB 1355, by the Legislature during the 2011 session and signed into law by Gov. Rick Scott. Crapps announced his intention after adjourning a hearing Friday, at about 2:15 p.m.

The disputed provisions of the law are:

In a couple of weeks, Judge Kevin Carroll of the 2nd Judicial Circuit Court is expected todetermine whether nurses and other state employees may proceed with their present lawsuit against the Florida Department of Corrections (DOC), or whether they will need to file an entirely new one in their long-ranging battle against privatization of prison health services.

At approximately 3 p.m. Wednesday, Judge Terry Lewis ofthe 2nd Judicial Circuit Court dismissed a lawsuit brought againstFlorida Supreme Court JusticesBarbara Pariente, Peggy Quince, and R. Fred Lewis by theSoutheastern Legal Foundation (SLF).

SLF, a conservative public-interest law firm, is representing two citizen plaintiffs whoallege that the justicesemployed the services of their law clerks to further their campaigns and falsified campaign documents, both of which would be violations of state law.