U.S. Rep. Steve Southerland, a funeral home director by trade, buried one blue dog Democrat in 2010. Depending on who emerges from a four-way Democratic primary, he aims to take down another this fall.

The freshman congressman ousted longtime Democratic Rep. Alan Boyd in the North Florida district as Republicans swept House seats across the country in the midterm election.

Southerland could face somewhat stiffer headwinds this year, as his 2nd Congressional District has been redrawn to include all of Tallahassee, and therefore more Democratic voters.

Barack Obama's promise to "bend the cost curve" of health care has gone bust. Now, on the legal front, administration lawyers are shifting Obamacare's defensive lines before the U.S. Supreme Court.

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office forecasts that the Affordable Care Act will "significantly increase" mandatory health-care spending from $26 billion this year to $161 billion in 2022.

Overall, the CBO pegs the price tag at $2.6 trillion -- a far cry from Obama's initial projections of multibillion-dollar savings.

Florida's newly drawn 10th Congressional District includes Disney World, but Democrats are stuck in Fantasy Land if they think they can beat GOP Rep. Daniel Webster, Republicans say.

The district, previously represented by Democrat Alan Grayson, turned redder with redistricting. Voters in the district, which includes portions of Orange, Lake and Polk counties, voted for John McCain over Barack Obama by a margin of 52 percent to 47 percent and went for Republican Rick Scott over Alex Sink 52 percent to 44 percent in the 2010 gubernatorial election.

A gun group is suing the city of Leesburg over a local law that requires municipal approval to discharge a firearm.

Florida Carry says the statute violates state law, which prohibits local jurisdictions from implementing gun restrictions. The 2011 Legislature doubled down on that 25-year-old law by spelling out penalties against local officials, including removal from office.

Alan Grayson's collision with a Lynx bus in downtown Orlando last weekend was the latest in a string of road follies by the former Democratic congressman who now is seeking a return to office.

According to court and law-enforcement documents obtained by Sunshine State News, Grayson racked up nine traffic citations in Florida and Virginia since 1995.

The offenses -- which ranged from speeding to littering to "improper backing" -- resulted in fines and, in one case, enrollment at traffic school.

Republican Rep. Vern Buchanan likes his re-election chances in a redrawn west coast district that encompasses 96 percent of his current constituents. And why not? They sent him back to Washington with a healthy 10,000-vote margin two years ago.

This year's Democratic challenger, Keith Fitzgerald, sees an opening in the 16th Congressional District that includes the reliable GOP enclaves of Sarasota and Bradenton.

The race in South Florida's swampy 26th Congressional District is shaping up to be as lively and lethal as an alligator fight.

Incumbent Rep. David Rivera, R-Miami, appears to have a clear path to November -- but rumblings persist that a primary challenger could emerge, or that a tea party protest candidate could run to Rivera's right in the general election.

As gasoline prices soar, Barack Obama is running on empty.

Amid growing public disgust with partisan gridlock in Congress, a "No Budget, No Pay" bill will be heard by a Senate committee Wednesday.

The measure would withhold congressional pay if members fail to pass spending bills and the budget on time, say sponsors Sen. Dean Heller, R-Nev., and Rep. Jim Cooper, D-Tenn.

This is an historic moment for Congress, said Bill Galston, co-founder of the bipartisan group, No Labels.

U.S. Rep. John Mica turned up the heat on the Transportation Security Administration Tuesday, prodding the agency to allow more airports to privatize their screening operations.

Speaking at Orlando-Sanford International Airport, whose "opt-out" application was denied by the TSA last year, Mica said the federal agency "attempted to shut down this cost-effective and more efficient screening model for airports."

Sixteen airports operate under the Screening Partnership Program, and others are interested in doing so, but Mica said the TSA has dragged its feet.