Karen Thurman announced Friday that she is stepping down as chairwoman of the Florida Democratic Party, following the route of her Partys candidates at the polls last week.

With the Legislature meeting on Tuesday for a special session, one-third ofthe House members were not in Tallahassee in the last session. Of the 120 members of the House that will convene, 37 of them won election for the first time in November.

With more than 1.6 million veterans living in the Sunshine State, there will be a lot of ceremonies honoring them across Florida on Thursday as the nation celebrates Veterans Day.

Most serious presidential candidates win their last general election before taking aim at the White House. But former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania is eschewing conventional wisdom as he prepares to launch a bid for the Republican presidential nomination in 2012.

A day after naming Sen. Mike Bennett, R-Bradenton, as president pro tempore and Sen. Andy Gardner, R-Orlando, as majority leader, incoming Senate President Mike Haridopolos, R-Merritt Island, named three more members of his leadership team.

Incoming Senate President Mike Haridopolos, R-Merritt Island, named his leadership team Tuesday -- tapping Sen. Mike Bennett, R-Bradenton, as president pro tempore, while Sen. Andy Gardiner, R-Orlando, was selected to serve as Republican leader.

While some Republican governors have hinted that they would reject federal funds for transportation projects, Rick Scott has not stated that he would turn down more than $2 billion to help with high-speed rail projects.

With incoming House Speaker Dean Cannon, R-Winter Park, announcing Friday that he will name Rep. John Legg, R-Port Richey, as speaker pro tempore and Rep. Carlos Lopez-Cantera, R-Miami, as House majority leader, incoming House Minority Leader Ron Saunders of Key West responded Monday by naming key members of his leadership team.

As he continues his campaign against U.S. Rep. Tom Price, R-Ga., to become the next chairman of the Republican Policy Committee, the fifth ranking member of the GOP leadership in the U.S. House, Sunshine State Republican Connie Mack, touched on immigration on Monday.

Having routed the Democrats at the polls, the Republicans turned to incoming U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio Saturday to offer the Republican response to President Barack Obamas weekly radio address.