Rep. Kelli Stargel, R-Lakeland, and former Rep. Aaron Bean of Fernandina Beach made it official Wednesday, filing their qualifying paperwork to run for the Florida Senate.

Their entries expanded the number of Republican congressional and legislative primary contests that will occur across the state in August as the qualifying week enters its final two days.

So far there are 31 Republican primaries lined across Florida, including the statewide U.S. Senate contest and 10 congressional races.

It should come as no surprise that Florida, as one of the largest states in the nation, sits atop the list for corruption.

Between 2000 and 2010, federal officials made 781 corruption convictions involving Florida, just ahead of California, Texas and New York.

Integrity Florida, a start-up nonprofit focused on ethics reforms, believes 2013 could be the year when some long-sought reforms are finally given serious consideration by state lawmakers.

Former U.S. Sen. George LeMieux has announced he will file qualifying paperwork Wednesday morning to round out the announced GOP field intent on taking on long-serving U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson.

U.S. Rep. Connie Mack, R-Fort Myers, retired Army officer Mike McCalister of Plant City and former U.S. Rep. Dave Weldon of Melbourne all submitted their paperwork on Monday.

See list of qualified U.S. Senate candidates here.

Nelson also qualified on Monday.

A state wetlands expert reportedly suspended for failing to issue a permit that remains under review, has returned to work following an internal review into her unapproved absence from work.

The Republican Party of Florida has re-upped its support of the states effort to access a federal database to check the citizenship of registered voters, just as the liberal Moveon.org has targeted Gov. Rick Scott.

It all began Monday for candidates in the 27 congressional and 160 legislative races in Florida -- the ritualistic business of qualifying at the state Capitol in Tallahassee.

Gov. Rick Scott said Monday that the state will work with counties to lessen anticipated fiscal hits as they pay back years of unpaid Medicaid bills.

But for some counties, that may not be enough, resulting in a reduction of county services or an imposition of layoffs.

Scott held a series of business round tables in five rural Panhandle counties Monday, and among the first things he was told was of the pending economic crisis coming from the controversial Medicaid bill, HB 5301, he signed into law.

Gov. Rick Scott defended the states efforts to remove noncitizens from the list of Floridas registered voters with a deadlined response looming for the U.S. Department of Justice on Monday.

There is no perfect time to do any of these things, we just want fair elections, Scott said following a business round table in the rural Panhandle community of Quincy.

This is not a partisan issue; Republicans want fair elections, Democrats, independents, we all do.

Secretary of State Ken Detzner defended efforts to remove noncitizens from the lists of Florida registered voters in the wake of the U.S. Department of Justice questioning the legality of the process.

As Floridas chief elections officer, I am committed to ensuring the accuracy of Floridas voter rolls and the integrity of our elections. It is my duty to protect the right of all eligible voters who are able to participate in the process, Detzner stated in a release Friday.

Despite voter-approved changes to the way Floridas legislative and congressional districts were redrawn, the makeup isnt showing much of a shake-up as the election cycle formally kicks into gear next week.

The official qualifying period for the 2012 legislative races runs from noon Monday to noon on Friday, June 8, but the gates have already been filling up.

An early offshoot of the makeup of the candidates is that the 2016 Senate president aspiration of Sen. Jack Latvala, R-St. Petersburg, may be a little shaky.