One of the two 527 committees that Republican gubernatorial Bill McCollum is raising money for, The Florida First Initiative, has reported $175,000 in contributions.

Most of the cash — $100,000 — is from Vero Beach-based RC Stork aviation companies. Hobe Sound venture capitalist Robert C. McCormack also $25,000.

Meanwhile, The Buzz is reporting that McCollum has just $800,000 in his campaign account heading into the final six weeks of the primary campaign against Naples businessman Rick Scott.

Republican attorney general candidate Jeff Kottkamp is airing this ad on TV markets in Tampa and Orlando.

There are too many guns on the table to count (although we’re pretty sure that’s not how the police store their weapons anywhere in the state). We did count the sound of 10 guns being cocked in 30 seconds, which is the unofficial record so far for the 2010 political season…

Kottkamp is in Republican primary with Pam Bondi and Holly Benson.

Some Democrats are crying foul over a group Democrat Dave Aronberg has used to raise $128,000 for his attorney general primary: “Florida Mainstream Democrats.”

If the name sounds familiar, that’s because it should.

It was first coined in 2004 for a group founded by 18 Democratic state lawmakers – including Aronberg, who served as chairman for about three years – to attract conservative voters to the party and support pro-business, moderate candidates seeking political office outside the traditional liberal enclaves in South Florida.

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With former Florida Sen. and offshore drilling critic Bob Graham as one of its co-chairs, a commission appointed by President Obama to study the Deepwater Horizon oil spill began hearings this morning in New Orleans.

Here’s the official White House website describing the commission and its members.

Here’s an Associated Press article from last month noting the lack of technical expertise of the panelists.

And here’s frequently updated coverage from today’s meeting by the New Orleans Times-Picayune.

Before you get too irritated by the political ads from statewide candidates looping on television or squeezed into mailboxes this year, keep this in mind: You’re probably paying for part of it.

In 2006, Florida taxpayers doled out $11.1 million to 10 candidates running for governor or Cabinet-level offices.

This year, with the state budget hole widening and the number of jobs in Florida shrinking, 17 statewide candidates agreed to limit campaign spending in exchange for matching dollars from the state treasury.

But four of the candidates taking taxpayer cash for their campaigns, including Dave Aronberg and Jeff Atwater, both from Palm Beach County, also are raising money for separate political committees that have no limits on contributions or expenditures. Aronberg, a Democrat, is running for attorney general. Atwater, a Republican, is running for chief financial officer.

“That’s just a blatant evasion,” said University of Florida Professor Clifford A. Jones, a campaign finance law expert. “I’m not saying it’s illegal, but it’s a pretty big loophole.”

Story here.

At the peak of the housing frenzy, California landlord Jeff Greene made a shrewd move that countless American investors and homeowners wish they would have mimicked. He bet that borrowers who took out subprime mortgages would default.

The trade paid off big, netting Greene profits of perhaps $500 million, perhaps $800 million – all for an investment of about $24 million. Greene’s win pushed him from millionaire to billionaire and was detailed in the 2009 book The Greatest Trade Ever.

Now that he’s a candidate for the U.S. Senate, Greene’s trade is campaign fodder. Greene used a financial instrument known as a credit default swap to make his bet, and his opponent in the Democratic primary, U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek, has accused Greene of pushing the housing market into a tailspin.

Story here.

As we get ready for Gov. Charlie Crist’s special session at the end of the month, we thought we’d dust off this story from May when Crist was first warming to the idea:

An onslaught of oil threatens their beaches and fleeing tourists are already costing their seaside businesses millions, but few lawmakers from the state’s Gulf Coast want to return to Tallahassee to put a constitutional ban on the statewide ballot.

“We haven’t even stopped the oil yet,” said Rep. Leonard Bembry, a North Florida Democrat. “We don’t have all the facts yet.”

Bembry, the grandson of a longtime mullet fisherman and an ardent opponent of offshore drilling, epitomizes the difficult position many lawmakers find themselves in as Gov. Charlie Crist decides whether to force a special session on them.

Interviews with 14 of the 18 House lawmakers who represent districts along the state’s 770 miles of Gulf Coast show that many would ultimately support a constitutional ban, but few favor holding a special session in the immediate aftermath of a disaster.

Story here.

Republican gubernatorial candidates Bill McCollum and Rick Scott confirmed on Friday they’ll hold at least two debates before their Aug. 24 primary, setting up early August showdowns that could reshape their race for the GOP nomination.

Story here.

Republican Allen West’s campaign will report they collected $1.4 million during the second quarter of 2010, The Palm Beach Post has learned.

That tops the campaign’s previous best quarter, which was $838,000 during the first three months of the year.

The totals mean West has collected a total of $3.5 million for his campaign and has $2.2 million on hand.

U.S. Rep. Ron Klein, D-Boca Raton, reported $2.6 million in cash on hand at the end of the first quarter. He has not yet filed his latest report.

We’re pretty sure Republican U.S. Senate Marco Rubio is opposed to a Gov. Charlie Crist, an independent candidate for U.S. Senate, calling a special state legislative session to ban oil drilling in state waters.

Here is the latest press release from the Rubio campaign today:

By The Numbers: Charlie Crist’s Political Photo-Op Special Session

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“I know what it’s like to have both parents unemployed,” Scott told about 250 people at the Palm Beach County Republican Party’s Lobster Fest.

Story here.

Unemployment benefits will expire for about 34,000 Floridians this week because the U.S. Senate failed to pass a bill to keep the payments flowing.

Congress might address the issue after it returns from this week’s recess, but in the meantime, job seekers are sweating out the political uncertainty.

“We have some very panicked people,” said Gwenda Thompson, head of Workforce Solutions, the nonprofit agency for job seekers in the Treasure Coast. “They’re still without employment, they still have bills coming in, they still have to eat, and they’re wondering how they’re going to do it.”

The story is the same at Workforce Alliance, Workforce Solutions’ counterpart in Palm Beach County.

” ‘My benefits are running out, I’m not sure what I’m going to do.’ We hear that quite a lot,” said Judy Dunn, a senior career consultant at Workforce Alliance.

Story here.

Independent Gov. Charlie Crist said Thursday he will force state lawmakers back to the Capitol this month to write a constitutional amendment for the November statewide ballot to ban oil drilling in state waters.

Crist, who supported drilling in state waters last year, made his announcement the same day the first poll in nearly two months showed him trailing Republican Marco Rubio in the U.S. Senate race.

It also came amid reports that BP could plug the Gulf of Mexico gusher by the end of the month, a development that could dislodge the environmental disaster from its spot atop state and national news broadcasts.

Crist acknowledged timing was crucial, but said he was most concerned about the Aug. 4 deadline to put questions on the statewide ballot.

“If we don’t get this done soon, we may never get it done,” Crist said. “It is time sensitive.”

Story here.

State Rep. Kelly Skidmore, a Boca Raton Democrat hoping to replace Jeff Atwater in the state Senate, quickly turned Gov. Charlie Crist’s call for a special session into a fundraising plea. Keep reading to see the e-mail sent to supporters today.

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Marco Rubio, Republican U.S. Senate candidate

“The Obama/Crist response to the oil spill has been a total failure and Florida families and businesses are suffering because of it. This special session is nothing more than a political sideshow that will do nothing to help Panhandle businesses, keep oil off our beaches, or prevent future spills. In fact, Charlie Crist seeks to ban something that is already illegal under state law. We don’t need more photo ops and finger pointing. We need leadership.

“Every available clean-up skimmer in the world should be along our Gulf coast right now. After two months, there is no reason we don’t have containment boom and barriers protecting every vulnerable beach. We need strong leadership that will challenge government to do more before it’s too late. Instead, Charlie Crist seems more focused on releasing birds than releasing skimmers.

“We all agree that the Gulf oil spill is a tremendous tragedy that must never be repeated. But drilling is going to happen off our coast whether it’s done by America, China and Cuba, which just last week announced plans to drill 60 miles off the Florida Keys. We still need safer and smarter offshore energy exploration to end our addiction to foreign oil.”

U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek, Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate:

“What took the Governor so long? On the 80th day of the Gulf oil spill, Governor Crist finally got around to calling a special session to block drilling off Florida beaches. It shouldn’t have come to this. Where was he before the spill? I’ve fought my entire life against Big Oil and against drilling off our beaches — even when it was unpopular to do so. We need leaders who aren’t afraid to tackle tough issues, not politicians who wait to act until it’s politically expedient.”

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“I feel a compelling duty to protect Florida,” Gov. Charlie Crist said at a press conference moments ago.

Crist said he will call lawmakers back from July 20-23 to put a constitutional amendment on the ballot to ban drilling in state waters. There is an Aug. 4 deadline to put questions on the ballot.

There will be no other issues in the special session.

Crist said he expects Sen. Alex Villalobos, R-Miami, to sponsor the resolution in the Senate. But he has received opposition from Republican legislators the House, where leaders have opposed a special session. They note state law already bans drilling in state waters and accuse Crist of political grandstanding.

Crist said he has tried to reach out to House Speaker Larry Cretul and incoming House Speaker Dean Cannon, both Republicans who have been openly critical of Crist’s previous suggestions for a special session.

“Politics has nothing to do with this,” Crist said. “This has everything to do with doing what’s right for a place that I love.”

“I know that it’s already barred statutorily. But I also know that just a year ago they tried to change that statute and drill holes three miles off the coast of Florida.”

Of course, Crist supported that bill “just a year ago,” too.

We’ll post reactions as they come in here.

From Gary Fineout:

Judge Shelfer says amendment 7 could have wiped out other standards inc one that requires connected districts

Judge Shelfer says it took him 3 days and loads of case law to understand Amend 7. Doubts voter could figure it out.

State lawmakers — Republicans and some black Democrats — added Amendment 7 to the ballot to let lawmakers to maintain “communities of interest” when they draw new political boundaries. The NAACP and Women’s League of Voters sued to block it.

The amendment was in response to a pair of citizen initiatives (Amendments 5 and 6) that would aimed at overhauling how legislative boundaries are drawn. U.S. Reps. Corrine Brown, D-Jacksonville, and Mario Diaz-Balart, R-Miami, have sued to block Amendment 6.

U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek, a Miami Democrat hoping to win his party’s U.S. Senate nomination, announced today that he collected $1 million in contributions during the second quarter this year. That would bring his 18-month total to more than $6.5 million. He reported about $3.7 million in cash on hand as of March 31.

Meek is in a primary battle with Palm Beach businessman Jeff Greene and former Miami Mayor Maurice Ferre. The winner is expected to face Republican Marco Rubio and independent Charlie Crist on the November ballot.

About 175 people showed up to see Meek in Delray Beach last night. (story here)

He told the crowd that he was the only “real Democrat” in the race, said he would push to bring troops home from Afghanistan and said the political attacks over his connection to a real estate scandal in Miami has affected him “emotionally.”

“It does affect me emotionally when someone attacks my character when I know otherwise,” Meek said.

From Rasmussen Reports:

Regardless of which Democrat is in the race, Rubio carries roughly 60% of the GOP vote, while Crist earns 29% support from voters in his former party. It will be interesting to see if Crist can hang on to this level of support from Republicans as the campaign wears on.

Democrats are narrowly divided between Crist and the candidate from their own party. Voters not affiliated with either party give a slight edge to Crist. But nearly one-out-of-five Democrats and unaffiliateds remain undecided.

Rubio runs stronger among voters over 40, while Crist earns his best numbers among voters ages 18 to 39. Most conservatives like Rubio. Moderates and liberals give the edge to the governor.

The statewide telephone survey of 500 Likely Voters in Florida was conducted on July 6, 2010 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/-4.5 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC.

A measure in the Florida constitution that has funneled nearly $22 million in taxpayer money to statewide political candidates in the past 10 years is the target of a lawsuit from Republican gubernatorial candidate Rick Scott.

Scott is asking a federal judge to throw out Florida’s public financing law, saying it has “significantly chilled” his First Amendment rights.

Scott has spent $21 million on his campaign since April 9, which means he’s drawing perilously close to the $24.9 million trigger on the state’s so-called Millionaire’s Amendment. Scott’s political opponents will be eligible for a dollar-for-dollar match from the state for whatever Scott spends beyond that limit.

Republican lawmakers support repealing the measure. Sen. Mike Haridopolos, who is supporting Scott’s primary opponent, Bill McCollum, helped write the constitutional amendment on the November ballot (Amendment 1) that asks voters to reverse their 1998 decision to put it into the state constitution.

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