Rep. Pat Patterson, R-DeLand, a veteran of the House, pulled out of the contest for the Republican nomination for state CFO and turned his focus to running for the Senate seat currently occupied by Sen. Carey Baker, R-Eustis, that comes up in 2012.
I have notified the Division of Elections that I would be switching over, said Patterson on Friday.
Patterson gave a warm endorsement to Senate President Jeff Atwater, R-North Palm Beach, his chief Republican rival in the CFO race.
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Former Tallahassee Mayor Scott Maddox has a clear shot at the Democratic nomination to be the next commissioner of agriculture and consumer services. With Thad Hamilton leaving the primary to run as an independent and former Suwannee County Commissioner Randy Hatch pulling out Thursday to back Maddox, former Rep. Rick Minton ended his bid today.
We decided it wasnt in the cards, said Minton. Minton said he was encouraged to make the run, but the dynamics were changed when Maddox entered the race. It kind of sucked the oxygen out of the room.
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As the state attempts to combat the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, Christopher Holley is trying to make sure the 26 Florida counties now placed in a state of emergency are able to cope with the environmental and economic damages.
Former House Speaker and Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate Marco Rubio weighed in on the May unemployment numbers for Florida. The numbers released this morning showed the unemployment rate dropping from 12 percent in April to 11.7 percent in May.
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While the Division of Elections has not rolled his candidacy over to "qualified" yet, the Bud Chiles campaign team filed their paperwork to launch his independent gubernatorial campaign. Chiles spokesman Jim McClellan said in a statement, Bud Chiles qualifying papers were filed this morning, shortly before noon. He is on a campaign swing in southwest Florida today and through the weekend. The papers had to be filed by noon today.
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The Republican Party of Florida is conducting caucus meetings and training sessions in Tampa today and Saturday.
Meetings on Saturday morning will feature reports from U.S. Sen. George LeMieux, U.S. Rep. Adam Putnam, Attorney General Bill McCollum, state Senate President Jeff Atwater and state Rep. Will Weatherford.
Sunshine State News will be on hand, blogging from the Grand Hyatt Tampa Bay. Stay tuned.
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Targeting Republican lawmakers who raised taxes and green-lighted the "Train to Nowhere," the TEA Party of Florida has nearly 20 legislative candidates on the fall ballot.
"We're going after some of the big boys -- Dean Cannon, Chris Dorworth, Bryan Nelson and Steve Precourt -- because they voted for (Central Florida's billion-dollar) SunRail. They're on the hitlist," Doug Guetzloe, a consultant for the new TEA Party, said Friday morning.
Filing officially closed at noon today for state political offices. The big news was the deluge of TEA Party candidates running for state House.
"We'll have candidates from the Panhandle to Key West," party consultant Doug Guetzloe told Sunshine State News.
Orlando area races look particularly hot, as TEA candidates line up to challenge such big-name Republican incumbents as Dean Cannon, Steve Precourt, Chris Dorworth and Bryan Nelson.
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With U.S. Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, under fire for his comments about the federal government demanding BP establish a $20 billion escrow account to clean up the oil spill on the Gulf, U.S. Rep Jeff Miller is calling out his Republican colleague.
U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek, the leading Democratic candidate in the race for the U.S. Senate but facing a tough challenge from Jeff Greene, quickly weighed in on the Agency for Workforce Innovations announcement that Floridas unemployment rate dropped from 12 percent in April to 11.7 percent in May -- and blamed the Republicans.
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