Last week saw Gov. Charlie Crist announce he’s running for U.S. Senate and Democratic Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink announce she’s running for governor. Today, Republican Attorney General Bill McCollum is slated to announce his 2010 candidacy for governor in Orlando. Tuesday should see state Senate President Jeff Atwater, R-North Palm Beach, launch a campaign for CFO.

With McCollum leaving, Republican Lt. Gov. Jeff Kottkamp is expected to run for AG. Former Crist chief of staff George LeMieux is another Republican possibility. On the Democratic side, state Sens. Dave Aronberg of Greenacres and Dan Gelber of Miami Beach and former state Sen. Rod Smith of Alachua have all been eyeing runs for AG.

In the CFO race, former Republican CFO and 2006 gubernatorial candidate Tom Gallagher is another possible candidate. Democrats mentioned as potential CFO candidates include state Sen. Ted Deutch of Boca Raton, but he so far has not shown signs he’ll give up his legislative seat.

Atwater’s Senate seat has already drawn interest from a large crowd of Republicans, including state Reps. Ellyn Bodganoff of Fort Lauderdale and Carl Domino of Jupiter and investor Nick Loeb of Delray Beach, who’s currently a state House candidate. Boca Raton Councilwoman Susan Haynie is another GOP possibility. So is Wellington Councilwoman Lizbeth Benacquisto, although Benacquisto is also considering a run for Aronberg’s state Senate seat if Aronberg runs for AG.

If Aronberg runs for AG, potential candidates for his Senate seat include state Rep. Joseph Abruzzo, D-Wellington, and former Republican state Rep. Sharon Merchant.

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