DEERFIELD BEACH — Democratic Broward County Commissioner Kristin Jacobs launched her congressional bid this afternoon by casting herself as a solution-oriented figure and calling primary rival Lois Frankel “divisive” and “another pay-to-play Tallahassee politician.”

Jacobs, a 14-year veteran of the Broward commission, is starting the race for Palm Beach-Broward District 22 nearly one year and $1.4 million behind Frankel, the former West Palm Beach mayor and former state House member who has garnered a slew of endorsements.

Jacobs made her announcement at a 1920 school house near a bridge that links Broward and Palm Beach counties. Jacobs, who pushed for the bridge project after Congress approved the $787 billion stimulus in 2009, said the project is emblematic of her ability to “navigate the impossible and find solutions.”

Jacobs didn’t mention Frankel by name in her remarks, but clearly referred to Frankel’s fiery reputation and 14 years of Tallahassee experience.

“They say the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. So here’s the thing, if we want the same results we’ve been getting – a more bitterly divided House where our work is not being done — then let’s send a divisive insider to Washington,” Jacobs said.

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Republican Senate-turned-congressional hopeful Adam Hasner has landed the endorsement of former Gov. Jeb Bush.

The Bush endorsement could come in handy if Broward County Commissioner Chip LaMarca or some other Republican gets a notion to challenge Hasner in the primary.

Hasner, the Boca Raton resident who was state House majority leader before he was term-limited in 2010, is running in Palm Beach-Broward congressional District 22. The seat is now held by U.S. Rep. Allen West, R-Plantation, who bolted to new District 18 when District 22 was redrawn with a Democratic tilt. West is also backing Hasner.

Says Bush in a statement released by Hasner’s campaign: “I am proud to endorse my friend Adam Hasner for the U.S. House of Representatives in District 22. Adam has a passion for reform and for common-sense conservative solutions, and he will take that passion to a Washington that is certainly in need of both.

“The challenges America faces grow each and every day, and we need representatives that share Adam’s commitment to principle, his dedication to government accountability and his proven record in working for his community.

“Adam served Palm Beach and Broward counties with distinction in the state legislature, and I know he will continue to do so in the U.S. House.”

South Florida Tea Party Chairman Everett Wilkinson says he’s pondering a run for Congress against a national tea party favorite — U.S. Rep. Allen West, R-Plantation.

Wilkinson, a former Republican who’s now registered with no party affiliation, says he agrees with West on most issues but thinks the newly drawn Palm Beach-Treasure Coast congressional District 18 should have a local candidate. West lives in Broward County, but announced Jan. 31 that he’ll leave his Palm Beach-Broward district to run in District 18.

“Congressman West doesn’t live in this district. I’ve lived in this district four years,” said Wilkinson, whose group has had West as a speaker at some of its major rallies. “There’s local people in politics that may have considered running in that district who live there. Why shouldn’t they?”

Martin County Sheriff Robert Crowder also cited concerns about West’s Broward County residency when he announced Tuesday that he plans to run against West in a GOP primary for the District 18 seat.

Wilkinson says he’ll make a decision about running in the next few weeks.

The likely Democratic candidate for District 18, Patrick Murphy, lives in Fort Lauderdale.

Longtime Martin County Sheriff Robert Crowder says he has decided to challenge U.S. Rep. Allen West, R-Plantation, in a Republican primary for a new Palm Beach County-Treasure Coast congressional seat.

Crowder said voters in the new District 18, which includes all of Martin and St. Lucie Counties and a chunk of northern Palm Beach County, should have the option of choosing a homegrown candidate rather than one from Broward County. West announced Jan. 31 that he would leave his Palm Beach-Broward seat to run in the new district, which has been approved by the Florida legislature but is still subject to legal challenge.

Crowder said he’s running “to provide some local representation for a new district — rather than having someone who’s not really familiar with the district coming in and purporting to represent the people here. I just think the people need to have that option. If they choose to elect an outsider, that’s their choice.”

Crowder, 66, is completing his fifth term as sheriff and had already announced he wouldn’t seek reelection. He began entertaining thoughts of running for Congress after redistricting led U.S. Rep. Tom Rooney, R-Tequesta, who lives in District 18, to announce he was running in a new district to the west. Less than an hour after Rooney’s announcement, West announced plans to run in District 18 rather than his own district, which has been redrawn with a pronounced Democratic tilt.

West is a national tea party celebrity who has raised more than $5.9 million and began 2012 with more than $2.7 million in his campaign account. Crowder said he’s never raised more than $100,000 for any of his campaigns.

Crowder wouldn’t estimate how much it might cost to challenge West, but said he’ll have other advantages after living in the area more than 50 years.

“I think because of my history here there’s a lot of grass-roots things I can do that might not work for an outsider,” Crowder said.

In his weekly newsletter to constituents, U.S. Rep. Allen West, R-Plantation, begins with his personal recollection of hearing Whitney Houston‘s 1991 Super Bowl rendition of The Star-Spangled Banner as he returned from combat in Iraq. West then occasionally revisits the themes of 1991 and the late pop diva while blasting President Obama‘s contraceptive insurance mandate and accusing Obama of failing to “understand the ideals of American exceptionalism or a Constitutional Republic.”

Read West’s newsletter after the jump…

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Miffed at the lack of hometown candidates for the newly drawn Palm Beach-Treasure Coast congressional District 18, retiring Martin County Sheriff Robert Crowder says he’s considering a GOP primary challenge to U.S. Rep. Allen West, R-Plantation.

“It looks like at the present time all the interest in running for that seat is coming out of Broward County with people relocating. First, I found that strange because I think we’ve got some good people up here who would be capable of representing their neighbors,” Crowder said this morning.

Crowder, 66, has been elected sheriff five times in Martin County and has a history of ruffling feathers in his own party, including his 2010 endorsement of and TV ad for Democrat Alex Sink in the governor’s race against GOP nominee Rick Scott.

His interest in the congressional seat was first reported by Treasure Coast political columnist Eve Samples on Saturday.

West announced Jan. 31 that he would leave his Palm Beach-Broward district to run in the newly drawn district. Democrat Patrick Murphy of Fort Lauderdale has also announced he’s following West to run for the seat. U.S. Rep. Tom Rooney, R-Tequesta, lives in the district, but is running for a newly drawn seat to the west that includes many of his current constituents.

The Florida legislature approved the new districts last week. The map is already the subject of legal challenges.

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Republican Broward County Commissioner Chip LaMarca, a former chairman of the Broward County GOP, is considering running for the Palm Beach-Broward District 22 congressional seat despite heavy Republican establishment backing for former state House Majority Leader Adam Hasner of Boca Raton.

“I clearly want to look at it and see what the feel of the voters is,” LaMarca said this morning. “I count Adam as a friend, but I need to look at this.”

U.S. Rep. Allen West, R-Plantation, holds the seat now. But with the legislature redrawing District 22 with a Democratic tilt, West announced he’ll run instead in more balanced Palm Beach-Treasure Coast District 18. After West’s announcement, Hasner dropped his Republican U.S. Senate bid to run in District 22, bringing nearly $700,000 in campaign cash and endorsements from West and House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va. Hasner has also been designated an “on the radar” candidate by the National Republican Congressional Committee.

LaMarca says he’ll probably decide within a week whether to pursue the congressional bid.

Democrats Lois Frankel and Kristin Jacobs are also running in District 22.

Democrat Patrick Murphy, who has raised more than $1.4 million by stoking Democratic donors’ dislike of firebrand conservative Rep. Allen West, R-Plantation, has decided to follow West to a proposed Palm Beach-Treasure Coast congressional district.

Murphy called West a “coward” last week for leaving his Palm Beach-Broward District 22 to run in a new District 18. Murphy, an accountant who lives in Fort Lauderdale, announced this morning that he’s making the same move — and standing behind the “coward” charge.

“He left his constituents for what he thought was an easier fight for reelection. I’m going to an even harder fight,” Murphy said.

With the Florida legislature expected to make District 22 a Democrat-leaning seat, West’s maneuver lets him run a district with a roughly even Republican-Democrat divide. Murphy’s move puts him in a tougher district for a Democrat, but it also lets him avoid a potentially costly Democratic primary with former West Palm Beach mayor Lois Frankel and Broward County Commissioner Kristin Jacobs. And it allows Murphy, a political unknown before launching his congressional bid, to continue raising money using West as a foil.

Murphy’s decision to sidestep a primary drew plaudits from big-name Dems: U.S. Rep. and DNC Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Weston, Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chairman Steve Israel of New York and Florida Democratic Party Chairman Rod Smith.

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Gov. Rick Scott acknowledged Tuesday that he’s been lobbied by Florida members of Congress on the redistricting plan expected to be sent his way soon.

But the Republican governor didn’t want to mention any names.

“Oh, I don’t think anybody wants me to talk about any of those conversations,” Scott said, when asked if U.S. Rep. Allen West, R-Plantation, was among those contacting him.

West last week announced that he would leave his battleground congressional district, straddling Palm Beach and Broward counties, to run this year in a proposed new district, which includes Martin and St. Lucie counties, and part of Palm Beach.

West’s decision emerged as part of a GOP three-step dance – touched off by U.S. Rep. Tom Rooney, R-Tequesta, who said he’d run in a newly drawn, mostly rural and interior Florida district.

Former House majority leader Adam Hasner of Boca Raton completed the moves by announcing he was abandoning his U.S. Senate run to run in the district that West was exiting.

House and Senate redistricting leaders say they have kept their distance from members of Congress, mostly in an effort to comply with constitutional amendments approved by voters in 2010, which ban new electoral boundaries from favoring incumbents or parties.

Scott, though, said at least some in Florida’s delegation have reached out directly to the executive office. While Scott isn’ authorized to act on legislative maps, he can veto the congressional plan.

“I’ll review it when I get it,” Scott said of the congressional proposal. “I’ve had a few phone calls from some people that have had questions about it. My response is, ‘send me what your proposal is, and I’ll review it at the time.’

Senate Reapportionment Chairman Don Gaetz, R-Niceville, said Scott’s contacts with unnamed members of Congress doesn’t strike him as out of line — or unconstitutional.

“Any citizen is entitled to petition their government for the redress of grievances,” Gaetz said.

Gov. Rick Scott will speak at this week’s Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington, joining a lineup that includes encore performances by Sen. Marco Rubio and U.S. Rep. Allen West, R-Plantation.

CPAC is the conservative movement’s premiere annual showcase. Rubio’s status as a rising star of the right was confirmed when he was booked for a featured 2010 speaking gig while former Gov. Charlie Crist was still the establishment favorite for Florida’s GOP Senate nomination. Tea party megastar West keynoted last year’s conference.

Mitt Romney‘s 2012 presidential bid arguably began four years ago at CPAC when he chose the venue to announce he was dropping out of the 2008 Republican nomination hunt. Romney, who has had his troubles firing up the GOP conservative base this year, was considered the conservative alternative to John McCain in 2008.

Romney, Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum are all scheduled to speak at this year’s CPAC, which begins Thursday and ends Saturday.

The redistricting-fueled intrigue continues to swirl around Palm Beach-Broward congressional District 22.

A day after freshman U.S. Rep. Allen West, R-Plantation, announced he’s leaving the district to run in a more Republican-friendly district to the north, former state House Majority Leader Adam Hasner of Boca Raton confirmed this afternoon that he’s abandoning his Republican U.S. Senate bid to pursue the District 22 seat.

Hasner begins the congressional campaign with about $670,000 in cash from his Senate run. He also picked up an endorsement from West, who said, “I wish him the best, believe in him wholeheartedly and look forward to working alongside of him on Capitol Hill.”

District 22 is divided nearly evenly between Republicans and Democrats now, but state legislators are expected to approve a map that gives District 22 a pronounced Democratic tilt.

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Facing a tough reelection fight in a district that was redrawn with a Democratic tilt, U.S. Rep. Allen West, R-Plantation, announced today that he will instead run in a more Republican-leaning district to the north that’s home to U.S. Rep. Tom Rooney, R-Tequesta.

Rooney will run in a newly created rural district that extends from western Martin and St. Lucie counties to Charlotte County on Florida’s west coast and north into parts of Hillsborough and Polk counties. Rooney represents much of that area now.

With no Republican incumbent in West’s current Palm Beach-Broward congressional District 22, sources close to former state House Majority Leader Adam Hasner of Boca Raton said Hasner is considering dropping his U.S. Senate bid and running for West’s congressional seat.

West’s current District 22 is nearly evenly split between Republicans and Democrats. But a plan approved by the Florida Senate and up for a vote in the state House this week creates a district where Democrats have a 9-point registration advantage and Barack Obama got 56.6 percent of the vote in 2008.

If approved by the House, the new congressional map could still face legal challenges under a new anti-gerrymandering law approved by voters in 2010.

Two Democrats — former West Palm Beach Mayor Lois Frankel and Fort Lauderdale accountant Patrick Murphy — have been running in West’s District 22 and have raised about $1.4 million apiece.

“We chased Allen West out of the district,” crowed Frankel campaign adviser Bret Wask, who said Frankel would continue to run in District 22.

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In case you missed it, Rep. Allen West told President Obama, Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid and Debbie Wasserman Schultz to “Get the Hell out of the United States of America,” during a memorable speech at Saturday night’s Lincoln Day Dinner at the Kravis Center.

Lois Frankel and Patrick Murphy, the two Democrats hoping to run against West in November, certainly noticed.

Frankel, the former West Palm Beach mayor, started a chain letter on her election web site that residents can sign. It says:

Mr. West –

Let me be the first to tell you that Democrats aren’t going anywhere. Intolerance and immature outbursts don’t have a place in civilized government. Telling people you disagree with to “get the hell out of the United States of America” doesn’t have a place in our society.

Mr. West: We aren’t going anywhere! You and your Tea Party buddies might try to intimidate us with your talk of violence and tell us to get the hell out of the country. But we are not scared of your tactics and are ready for a fight this fall.

–Your Name Here–

In a letter seeking donations, Murphy writes:

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House redistricting maps slated for a vote this week put a number of incumbent Republicans in tough spots, including U.S. Rep. Allen West, R-Plantation.

But the chairman of the House Redistricting Committee, Rep. Will Weatherford, R-Wesley Chapel, fired off a statement Monday refuting lingering speculation that West was being singled out.

In both the House and Senate congressional plans, West loses a Republican-leaning section of his district in northern Palm Beach County to the seat now held by fellow Republican U.S. Rep. Tom Rooney, R-Tequesta.

Rooney’s brother, Patrick, is a Republican state representative from West Palm Beach. The Rooney family’s ownership of  Palm Beach Kennel Club also has positioned them as political players in Tallahassee for decades.

“There are rumors that the Florida Legislature has targeted Congressman Allen West,” Weatherford said Monday. “This is patently false. I personally have supported and endorsed Allen West. I will continue to support this extraordinary member of Congress who has brought a much needed conservative voice to Washington, D.C.

“However, my personal support cannot and will not trump the Constitution,” Weatherford said, pointing out that the redistricting effort is guided by a range of state and federal standards.

West apparently doesn’t feel he’s getting the short end of the stick from state lawmakers. West’s chief of staff, Jonathan Blyth, told the Post last month his boss is taking a long view of the redistricting proposals, which may undergo further changes following eventual court reviews.

“This is the second minute of the first round of a boxing match,” Blyth said, when the House congressional maps surfaced and bore a strong resemblance to those out of the Senate.

While West loses a key piece of Palm Beach County, the redistricting plans push him deeper into Democratic-leaning Broward County.

Rooney’s district is reduced from a rambling eight counties to a more manageable four, under both the House and Senate proposals. But while still Republican-leaning, Rooney’s district doesn’t clearly favor the GOP, since it also acquires large portions of St. Lucie County that backed Barack Obama in 2008.

WEST PALM BEACH — Lost in Herman Cain’s surprise endorsement of Newt Gingrich Saturday night at the Kravis Center was a rousing speech by Rep. Allen West, who received a bigger applause and ovation than either Gingrich or Cain.

West gave a 10 minute speech at the Lincoln Day Dinner, telling a very approving audience that, “We need to let President Obama, Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi and my dear friend the chairman of the Democratic National Committee (Debbie Wasserman Schultz), let them know Florida ain’t on the table.”

West then told his rivals to, “Take your message of economic dependency, take your message of enslaving the entrepreneurial will and spirit of the American people somewhere else. You can take it to Europe, you can take it to the bottom of the sea, you can take it the North Pole, but get the hell out of the United States of America.”

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It wasn’t quite as far off the charts as his third quarter haul of $1.96 million, but U.S. Rep. Allen West, R-Plantation, raised a staggering $1.75 million during the fourth quarter, his campaign said today.

West, known for spending big sums on direct mail, begins 2012 with $2.7 million in cash on hand, according to a campaign press release.

Based on the press release and past Federal Election Commission reports, it appears West spent about $800,000 between Oct. 1 and Dec. 31. Fourth-quarter FEC reports are due Jan. 31.

West has raised about $5.85 million overall for his reelection. Democrats Lois Frankel and Patrick Murphy have raised about $1.4 million apiece in hopes of defeating West.

With redistricting likely to push West into a Democratic-leaning congressional seat, West’s latest fundraising haul will probably fuel more chatter about West jumping into the Republican U.S. Senate primary for the right to challenge Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson. West has repeatedly rejected such suggestions.

Former U.S. Rep. and 2010 Democratic Senate nominee Kendrick Meek is endorsing Lois Frankel‘s congressional bid.

Democrat Frankel is running in a primary against Patrick Murphy for the seat of U.S. Rep. Allen West, R-Plantation.

Meek cited his longstanding friendship with Frankel going back to their days in the Florida legislature, adding “I know of no better person to take on Allen West and replace his extreme obstructionism with a proven leader who can get things done.”

It would have been a shocker if Meek backed Murphy. Murphy got a $1,000 contribution from former Gov. Charlie Crist, whose independent bid for Senate in 2010 siphoned votes from Meek. Murphy’s consultant, Eric Johnson, was a strategist for Crist’s campaign.

The Democrat heading efforts to recapture the U.S. House of Representatives said the party won’t take sides or try to push a candidate out of a potentially expensive Palm Beach-Broward congressional primary between Lois Frankel and Patrick Murphy.

Frankel and Murphy, who have opened campaigns for the seat of U.S. Rep. Allen West, R-Plantation, have raised about $1.4 million apiece and are among the best-financed Democratic candidates in the nation. Both were named today to the Dems’ “Red to Blue” program, which assists candidates and steers national donors toward races where Democrats believe they have the best chance of winning GOP-held seats.

Many Democrats, including Palm Beach County Democratic Chairman Mark Alan Siegel, have said they hope either Frankel or Murphy runs elsewhere to avoid a costly primary that might hurt the party’s chances of defeating national fundraising juggernaut West.

“We do prefer that we not squander resources in a head-to-head primary,” said U.S. Rep. Steve Israel, D-N.Y., who heads the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

But Israel said the national party won’t try to influence such a move because such efforts have “almost a 100 percent failure rate.”

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Former West Palm Beach Mayor Lois Frankel raised more than $320,000 in the fourth quarter of 2011 for her Democratic campaign for the Palm Beach-Broward congressional seat of U.S. Rep. Allen West, R-Plantation.

Frankel’s haul eclipses the $300,000 that fellow Democrat Patrick Murphy raised in the quarter for the same race. Frankel and Murphy — who many Dems would prefer to see avoid a primary by running in different districts — have so far focused their campaigns on West and not each other.

West, who raised $1.9 million in the third quarter of 2011, hasn’t announced his fourth quarter total. Reports are due Jan. 31.

Frankel and Murphy are among the best-financed Democratic congressional candidates in the nation, with each raising about $1.4 million so far.

Not long after U.S. Rep. Allen West, R-Plantation, took office last year, his admirers and people like Glenn Beck began floating his name as a 2012 presidential candidate. After West dismissed that talk, the national tea party celebrity began getting questions at his town hall meetings and elsewhere about whether he’d accept an invitation to be a vice presidential nominee.

West’s stock answer was that, if asked, he’d pray about it and consult his family.

Last week, however, West told Boca PR agent Barry Epstein and then a Jupiter town hall audience that “I’m not going to say no” if asked to join a 2012 GOP ticket.

Read about it in this week’s Politics column.