Sen. Norman ends his re-election bid

June 12, 2102, (Written by Gary Rohrer – The Florida Current). Sen. Jim Norman, R-Tampa, qualified for the Senate District 17 ballot last week but withdrew his name from consideration Tuesday. He did not give a reason for his departure from the race. Norman faced remaining ethics questions surrounding his failure to timely disclose a $500,000 home — purchased for his wife by a campaign contributor — on his financial disclosure forms in a previous election.

John Thrasher officially out of Senate presidency race

June 15, 2012, (Written by Matt Dixon – Florida Times Union). State Sen. John Thrasher, R – St. Augustine, is officially out of the race to become Senate president in 2016. Thrasher is putting his support behind ally state Sen. Joe Negron, R – Stuart, who is in what has already become a bruising race for the Senate’s top spot. “Not much is going to change. I just think we need a solid direction,” he said. “I mean, I still think I’ll be a player [in the Senate].”

Social media scoring big as campaign tool

June 14, 2012, (Written by Bill Cottrell – The Florida Current). As Gov. Rick Scott began a statewide campaign blitz this week to explain the purge of Florida voter rolls in the face of a federal lawsuit and sagging poll numbers, a large red rectangle popped up on Facebook pages with the message “I stand with Gov. Scott, stop voter fraud.” Within a few hours, the image got more than 700 “shares” and 247 “likes” on the vast social network. The new-media mavens at GOP headquarters were calculating potential voter contacts like Las Vegas oddsmakers, knowing that just under 20 percent of their Facebook friends are in the 45-54 age group and another 11 percent are in the 55-64 age demographic. That’s exactly the segment of Florida’s electorate that the GOP figures will relay the message ultimately to incalculable tens of thousands of friends.

Unemployment rate dips to 8.6 percent in May

June 16, 2012, (Written by Gray Rohrer – The Florida Current). Florida added 5,300 nonagricultural jobs in May as the unemployment rate dropped by 0.1 percent to 8.6 percent, according to numbers released Friday by the Department of Economic Opportunity. The rate is the lowest in Florida since December 2008 when it stood at 8.2 percent, but the recent decline in the jobless rate has been aided by a shrinking workforce.

Latvala says he has votes for Senate presidency in 2016

June 15, 2012, (Written by The News Service of Florida, Herald Tribune). On the same day Sen. John Thrasher made it official that he will not run for the Senate presidency in 2016, Sen. Jack Latvala said he believes he has rounded up enough support to claim the office barring too many losses in this year’s elections. Latvala, R-Clearwater, did not specify how many pledge cards he had collected from members of the Senate’s GOP caucus, which will decide who will serve as president unless Democrats seize control of the chamber in this year’s elections, 2014 or 2016.

Race for Pinellas Senate seat getting nasty early

June 16, 2012, (Written by Steve Bousquet – Tampa Bay Times). TALLAHASSEE — The battle between a pair of Pinellas County House members for an open Senate seat is getting mean, and it’s just getting started. Reps. Jeff Brandes and Jim Frishe both want to be the new senator from District 22, which takes in South Pinellas and a chunk of Tampa.

Is the GOP Senate primary over? Connie Mack says so

June 18, 2012, (Written by Katie Sanders – Tampa Bay Times). U.S. Rep. Connie Mack IV’s strategy to win the Republican primary for U.S. Senate is simple: ignore it. “We have a 33-point lead,” Mack said last week, explaining his decision to skip three televised GOP primary debates.

Is the GOP Senate primary over? Connie Mack says so

High court decision on health-care bill will set off a Florida scramble

June 17, 2012, (Writeen by Ledyard King – Florida Today). WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court’s upcoming decision on the 2010 health care reform law will set off a scramble in Florida — no matter what the court decides. A ruling upholding the entire law is expected to kick-start efforts to set up health exchanges for consumers, identify as many as 2 million uninsured Floridians who will be newly eligible for Medicaid, and dish out millions in insurance rebates to individuals and businesses.

Supervisors won’t purge voters without more proof

June 17, 2012, Written by Jeremy Wallace – Hearld-Tribune). Area election officials are not happy about being caught in the middle of a political war between Florida Gov. Rick Scott and the U.S. Justice Department over purging potential noncitizens from Florida’s voter rolls. Both Sarasota Elections Supervisor Kathy Dent and Manatee Supervisor Bob Sweat say they want noncitizens taken off their rolls as Scott is pushing for, but that they are finding errors in the lists of ineligible voters that the state has sent them.