Former Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse CEO and former National Restaurant Association Chairman Craig Miller is leaving the crowded Republican U.S. Senate race and says he’ll run instead for a new coastal congressional district that’s expected to include parts of Volusia, Flagler, St. Johns and Putnam counties.

Miller recently snagged the endorsement of fellow restaurateur Herman Cain for the Senate race.

Miller leaves without endorsing any of the other GOP Senate hopefuls — former state House Majority Leader Adam Hasner of Boca Raton, U.S. Rep. Connie Mack of Cape Coral, former appointed Sen. George LeMieux and businessman Mike McCalister.

“There are several very qualified candidates in the U.S. Senate race to represent our party, some with more name recognition and resources than our campaign. Therefore, I have chosen to shift my focus to serving the people of the new Coastal District,” Miller said in a statement released this morning.

“Having grown up on the Intracoastal Waterway and having spent a lifetime working in the Hospitality and Tourism industry, including opening and operating businesses in Volusia and St. John Counties, this new District offers me a unique opportunity to serve.”

Former restaurant exec-turned-candidate Herman Cain will be in Orlando on Thursday with another restaurateur-candidate, Republican U.S. Senate hopeful and former Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse CEO Craig Miller.

The pair will be promoting Cain’s 9-9-9 tax plan and Cain will make what the Miller campaign bills as a “major announcement.”

Cain, whose outsider presidential candidacy soared to the top of GOP polls before crashing amid allegations of crude sexual advances and infidelity that he vehemently denied, has also said he’s going to be making an “unconventional endorsement” in the presidential race next week.

Former state House majority leader Adam Hasner of Boca Raton has sent a letter to U.S. Rep. Connie Mack, R-Cape Coral, and former appointed Sen. George LeMieux calling for a series of 10 debates around Florida in the crowded GOP Senate primary.

Despite strong support from national movement conservatives, Hasner has lagged in the polls behind not only Mack and LeMieux but businessman Mike McCalister and in the same single-digit neighborhood as businessman Craig Miller. Hasner addressed his letter only to Mack and LeMieux, but the letter says he hopes the Republican Party of Florida will invite McCalister and Miller as well.

The Republicans are vying for the right to challenge Democratic incumbent Bill Nelson in November.

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Launching his campaign by deriding rival Bill Nelson as one of President Obama’s “lockstep liberals,” Republican U.S. Senate contender Connie Mack is expecting to be picketed by what his office staff called  ”loony liberals” Thursday.

Mack’s namesake father punctured Democratic opponent Buddy Mackay 23 years ago with the phrase, “Hey Buddy, you’re liberal.” The son’s days-old campaign seems to be sticking to a similar script.

Southwest Florida supporters of the Occupy Wall Street movement plan to protest at 1 p.m. today outside Mack’s Cape Coral office. But once Mack staffers got hold of the rally’s electronic sign-up sheet, they fired out a press release, tying the demonstration to MoveOn.org, the left-leaning activist group founded by billionaire George Soros.

“It’s appalling that George Soros and the loony liberals of MoveOn.org are protecting Bill Nelson by staging a sit-in protest at Congressman Mack’s office,” said David James, Mack’s deputy campaign manager. ”Three days after Connie Mack entered the race for U.S. Senate, these leftists are scared of the Mack candidacy and Connie’s message of freedom, security and prosperity.  Florida has had enough of the loony left and will bring an end to their big government, big taxation and big spending agenda next November.”

Polls show Mack is the frontrunner in five-person Republican field. At least one survey also shows him with enough current support to knock off Nelson, if Mack wins the GOP primary.

A new Public Policy Polling survey also shows Mack well out front in the Republican contest. It also examines the potency of name identification, but doesn’t attribute all of Mack’s success to having a well-known monicker.

The poll found Mack’s name is recognized by 57 percent of Republican voters in Florida, about double his nearest rival, short-term Senate-appointee George LeMieux. Others in the race were far back.

But the survey also found that voters familiar with the other candidates, still liked Mack best. 

“Name recognition is certainly an important part of the equation, but even when you account for that Mack’s well ahead,” PPP concluded. “And he has strong numbers across the ideological lines of the GOP, getting 44 percent with ‘very conservative’ voters, 43 percent with ’somewhat conservative’ ones, and 32 percent with moderates.”

Tarring Democratic opponent Bill Nelson as one of President Obama’s “lockstep liberals”, Republican U.S. Rep. Connie Mack said Tuesday that Floridians are looking for a change in the U.S. Senate.

“It’s pretty clear to me that this country, our country, is moving in the wrong directions,” Mack said in a conference call with reporters from his Fort Myers hometown.

Mack made his candidacy official Monday night in an appearance on Sean Hannity’s Fox-TV show. Mack, first elected to Congress in 2004, is the fifth Republican in the race to unseat Nelson, who is seeking his third term.

Mack is looking to win the same seat held by his father and namesake, former Republican U.S. Sen. Connie Mack. His dad defeated Democrat Buddy MacKay in 1988 after taunting him with the phrase, “Hey Buddy, you’re liberal.” And on Tuesday, the political apple didn’t fall far from the tree.

“Bill Nelson has become one of Barack Obama’s leading guys in the United States Senate,” Mack said, deriding his Democratic rival for supporting the president’s push on health care, stimulus spending, and energy cap-and-trade legislation.

Nelson is among the “lockstep liberals in Washington” the president depends on to advance his agenda, Mack said. The Republican contender, however, disputed that he, like his father, is looking to win by demonizing liberals.

“It’s not an attempt to demonize,” Mack said. “It’s to point out the differences.”

When those close to Mack confirmed a few weeks ago that he was planning to enter the race, the congressman immediately became the favorite, according to polls.

 A Quinnipiac University survey earlier this month showed Mack with a formidable lead over the four Republicans already in the race. A Rasmussen Reports poll also showed Mack could be trouble for Nelson, with the congressman favored by 43 percent of voters to 39 percent for the Democrat. The survey of 500 likely voters had a margin-of-error of plus-or-minus 4.5 percent.

Republican Connie Mack is shaping up as big trouble — not only for his fellow GOP contenders for the U.S. Senate nomination, but two-term Democratic incumbent Bill Nelson, a poll shows Friday.

Mack, a Cape Coral congressman, is the favorite of 43 percent of Florida voters, to 39 percent for Nelson, according to the survey of 500 likely voters conducted Thursday by Rasmussen Reports. The poll has a margin-of-error of plus-or-minus 4.5 percent.

The survey also shows Nelson holding comfortable leads over other Republican contenders, former U.S. Senate-appointee George LeMieux and former state House Majority Leader Adam Hasner. A Quinnipiac University poll released last week showed Mack holding a formidable lead over the four GOP candidates already in the U.S. Senate race.

Mack’s father, who shares the same name, represented Florida in the U.S. Senate from 1989 to his retirement in 2001, when he was succeeded by Nelson.

U.S. Rep. Connie Mack, R-Cape Coral, has become the instant frontrunner in the GOP Senate primary and runs virtually even with Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson, a new Quinnipiac University poll says.

“The entrance of Congressman Connie Mack into the Senate race changes what had been shaping up as an easy reelection for Sen. Bill Nelson into a tough fight that the incumbent could lose,” said Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute. “The fact that Mack is essentially tied with Nelson, who has been a statewide political figure for two decades, should set off warning bells at Democratic headquarters.”

Mack, whose office announced he would enter the race Oct. 26, gets 32 percent of GOP primary support in a poll taken Oct. 31 to Nov. 7. Placing a distant second is former appointed Sen. George LeMieux at 9 percent, followed by businessman Mike McCalister at 6 percent and 2 percent apiece for former state House Majority Leader Adam Hasner and former restaurant CEO Craig Miller.

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U.S. Rep. Tom Rooney, R-Tequesta, who worked as a Capitol Hill staffer for former Sen. Connie Mack III in the 1990s, says he’s leaning toward supporting late-entering U.S. Rep. Connie Mack IV, R-Cape Coral, in the 2012 GOP Senate primary.

“Having worked for Connie’s dad, having worked with Connie closely, I’d probably be leaning heavily toward Connie at this point. But let him get in the race and let him get his feet wet first,” Rooney said today.

Rooney, who once considered entering the 2006 GOP Senate primary against a weak Katherine Harris, said he was also asked about entering the 2012 contest because of underwhelming polling numbers by GOP candidates George LeMieux, Adam Hasner, Mike McCalister and Craig Miller. Rooney, who has three young children, said he wasn’t willing to take on the statewide fundraising and campaigning demands associated with a Senate run.

A pair of Republican U.S. Senate candidates showcased their stump speeches Wednesday at the Associated Press’ annual planning session at the state Capitol, with both pledging to shrink government and effectively turn back the political clock.

Craig Miller, a former restaurant executive, said it was time to end Democratic U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson’s four decades as an elected official, saying “I think 40 years is enough.”

He also dismissed the entry of U.S. Rep. Connie Mack, R-Fort Myers, into the race, saying it only added “one more career politician,” to a lineup that already includes former state House Majority Leader Adam Hasner, short-term Senate appointee George Lemieux, and tea party adherent Mike McCalister.

“I am the only true business person in the race,” Miller said.

McCalister also had a turn at the microphone, promising less regulation and “lower taxes for everyone.”

“We’ve got to get government out of the way. And we’re going to have to create a more business friendly economy,” McCalister said.

McCalister said he’d reduce federal spending by revamping Social Security and Medicare for future generations, and warned against an enduring threat of Communism. Miller derided the nation’s minimum wage, saying it hurt businesses and restrains hiring, fondly recalling working for $1-an-hour at age 13.

Mack’s entry into the race last month underscores the fluidity of the GOP contest. Polls show most Republican voters are undecided. None of the candidates have emerged as a frontrunner, and fund-raising remains modest.

Miller said that gives him a chance.

“The person that surfaces from the primary is the person with the right message, no matter where they come from,” Miller said.

Some elbows are already being directed at U.S. Rep. Connie Mack, R-Cape Coral, as he gets ready to enter the crowded 2012 Republican Senate primary.

Former appointed U.S. Sen. George LeMieux welcomed Mack as “a friend,” but also slammed Mack for supporting earmarks and congressional pay raises.

Former state House Majority Leader Adam Hasner‘s communications director Douglass Mayer called four-term House member Mack “another Washington incumbent.”

After announcing in March he wouldn’t run, Mack has decided to enter the Republican primary against LeMieux, Hasner and businessmen Craig Miller and Mike McCalister. the four declared GOP candidates have been plagued by underwhelming poll numbers and fundraising as they vie to challenge Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson in 2012.

Read statements from LeMieux, the Hasner campaign and McCalister after the jump….

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After ruling out a Senate run in March, U.S. Rep. Connie Mack, R-Cape Coral, appears to have had a change of heart.

With none of the Republican candidates showing impressive polling or fundraising numbers, a Mack aide told The St. Petersburg Times late Wednesday that the congressman would enter the race.

Republicans are trying to field a candidate to challenge two-term Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson.

Mack, the son of a former Senator and great-grandson of a Hall of Fame baseball legend with the same name, would bring a well-known name and presumed fundraising connections to the race. But Mack has occasionally run afoul of the GOP’s conservative base, most notably in opposing an Arizona-style crackdown on illegal immigrants.

Mack cited family concerns in passing up the Senate race in March, then endorsed state Senate President Mike Haridopolos, R-Merritt Island, in the primary. But Haridopolos dropped out during the summer.

Former appointed Sen. George LeMieux, former state House Majority Leader Adam Hasner and businessmen Craig Miller and Mike McCalister have spent months on the campaign trail, but none has built a strong following in the polls.

Reports this month showed all of the Republicans far behind Nelson in fundraising. Nelson raised $2 million in the last quarter and has about $7.5 million in his campaign account.

LeMieux’s fundraising plunged from $951,558 in the second quarter to $402,916 in the third quarter. He has about $1 million in the bank. Hasner raised $535,000 in the last quarter and has $786,000 on hand.

Plant City businessman Mike McCalister raised about $71,000 during the third quarter for his Republican U.S. Senate bid, his campaign said today. That places McCalister — who served 33 years in the Army National Guard, Army Reserves and active duty and retired with the rank of colonel — financially far behind his three main GOP primary rivals.

Federal Election Commission reports were due Saturday but have not yet been posted on the FEC site.

Former state House Majority Leader Adam Hasner raised $535,000 in the quarter. Former appointed Sen. George LeMieux collected $402,916 and former Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse CEO Craig Miller raised $226,000.

McCalister’s total came from nearly 2,000 donors, consultant Buzz Jacobs said.

The GOP candidates together raised less than incumbent Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson, who raised nearly $2 million in the quarter.

Former state House Majority Leader Adam Hasner of Boca Raton raised more campaign cash in the third quarter than GOP Senate primary rival George LeMieux — but neither one comes close to incumbent Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson.

Hasner raised $535,000 between July 1 and Sept. 30 and has $786,000 in cash on hand, his campaign said this evening. LeMieux, a former appointed Senator, raised $402,916 in the quarter and has a little more than $1 million in the bank.

Nelson, seeking a third term next year, said earlier this week that he raised nearly $2 million in the last quarter and has about $7.5 million in cash on hand.

A third Republican candidate, former Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse CEO Craig Miller, tonight announced he raised $226,000 in the quarter and has $145,000 cash on hand.

Also seeking the GOP nomination is Plant City businessman Mike McCalister, who has not yet announced his third-quarter fundraising totals. Federal Election Commission reports are due Saturday.

Hasner’s latest $535,000 haul compares to $565,439 he raised in the second quarter.

LeMieux’s third-quarter total is less than half the $951,558 he raised in the previous quarter.

Hasner and LeMieux together raised less than half the $1.9 million that U.S. Rep. Allen West, R-Plantation, raised in the third quarter for his House reelection bid.

West’s fundraising prowess led some Republicans to urge him to enter the Senate race, but West turned down the idea during the summer.

Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson‘s campaign says it will report nearly $2 million in contributions for the third quarter when it files a Federal Election Commission report later this week.

The Nelson campaign also says it has $7.5 million in cash on hand for the two-term incumbent’s 2012 reelection bid. It says the third-quarter haul came from 5,133 individual donors.

Republicans hoping to unseat Nelson — former appointed Sen. George LeMieux, former state House Majority Leader Adam Hasner of Boca Raton, businessmen Craig Miller and Mike McCalister — have not yet announced their fundraising totals for the July 1-Sept. 30 period.

Republican Senate hopeful Adam Hasner of Boca Raton further bolstered his conservative cred by landing the endorsement of the Family Research Council Action PAC, a national social-conservative organization that traces its roots to Focus on the Family’s James Dobson.

“Representative Hasner is a strong conservative who will work to protect the freedom of Americans by advocating for a limited government. He is pro-life, and consistent in his support of the traditional values that are the bedrock of our society,” said PAC Chairman Tony Perkins.

Hasner is running in a GOP primary against former appointed Sen. George LeMieux, Plant City businessman Mike McCalister and former Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse CEO Craig Miller. The winner will face Democratic incumbent Sen. Bill Nelson.

Hasner won last week’s Florida Conservative Political Action Conference Senate straw poll and has scored endorsements from FreedomWorks, Concerned Women for America and other national conservatives but so far has remained in single digits in polls.

Former state House Speaker Larry Cretul of Ocala has endorsed Republican Adam Hasner‘s U.S. Senate bid.

Cretul joins former Speaker Allen Bense in backing Hasner, who faces former appointed Sen. George LeMieux and businessmen Craig Miller and Mike McCalister in the GOP primary to challenge Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson.

Says Cretul: “I’m endorsing Adam because he is the Republican Party’s best choice to defeat Senator Nelson and take a mainstream conservative message to Washington. During his service in the Florida House Adam built an impressive record and was a forceful spokesman for the principles and ideas of our Party – even when it wasn’t popular. Adam is a fighter and the only candidate in the race with a consistent, limited-government record that voters can trust to be a reliable alternative to the agenda we see coming out of Washington today.”

Hasner, a former state House Majority Leader, has also snagged endorsements from current Majority Leader Carlos Lopez-Cantera of Miami, state Reps. Dennis Baxley and Scott Plakon and state Sens. Alan Hays and Anitere Flores.

Former state House Speaker Allen Bense, R-Panama City, who’s been mentioned as a potential 2012 GOP Senate candidate, announced this morning he’s endorsing Adam Hasner in the Republican primary and will serve as statewide chairman of Hasner’s campaign.

Former state House Majority Leader Hasner of Boca Raton is running against former appointed Sen. George LeMieux and businessmen Mike McCalister and Craig Miller for the GOP nomination to challenge Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson.

“I’ve known both Adam and George throughout the years, and there’s no doubt in my mind that Adam is the principled conservative that Florida Republicans should support,” Bense said in a statement released by the Hasner campaign. “Adam has a long record of standing up for mainstream, conservative principles that no other candidate in this race can match. He’s earned a reputation as a fighter and a straight-shooter who sticks to what he believes, no matter which way the political winds blow. I know he’ll go to Washington and stand up to both parties when they stray from the common sense, limited-government reforms needed to turn our country around.”

ORLANDO — In asking a question about abortion at a Republican Senate candidates forum today, conservative Tampa radio host Bill Bunkley veered from the usual moral arguments into a discussion of the U.S. labor force, illegal immigration, the future solvency of Social Security and the changing demographics of Europe.

Here’s Bunkley’s preamble:

“Since the 1973 Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision, most estimates put the number of aborted unborn children in America around 50 million. Arguably, that loss has been one of the contributing factors leading to an ongoing shortage of available domestic workers, and practically speaking, workers who would have filled the gap of jobs held by illegal aliens and by workers who would have been contributing to provide financial resources for the future Social Security and Medicaid payments. In Europe we are witnessing the impact of long-term declining growth rates that will soon change the face of many of their countries.”

Then Bunkley asked the candidates’ positions on abortion and the recent vote to de-fund Planned Parenthood.

In their answers, Adam Hasner, George LeMieux, Mike McCalister and Craig Miller all proclaimed themselves opposed to abortion and steered clear of matters like immigration and Social Security

Florida’s Presidency 5 event already has a Fox News nationally televised debate slated among the Republican presidential candidates.

Now, the GOP gathering next month at Orlando’s Orange County Convention Center will also feature a “forum” with the party’s four leading contenders to challenge Democratic U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson.

The state GOP announced Thursday that candidates Adam Hasner, George LeMieux, Craig Miller and Mike McCalister will square-off Fri., Sept. 23 before the 3,500 delegates expected at the three-day event.

The presidential debate is scheduled for the night before.

 “For three days, the eyes of the nation will be on Florida’s Republicans,” said RPOF Chairman David Bitner. “We are thrilled that part of our agenda will include presentations from our top Republican Senate candidates. Bill Nelson’s time in the Senate needs to end in 2012, and these candidates will make that case to Florida.”

 

Conservative Club For Growth Prez Chris Chocola is underwhelmed by the four announced GOP Senate candidates in Florida.

“There’s nobody there right now that we think is at the Rubio level,” Chocola says in an interview with The National Journal’s Hotline On Call. Former House Majority Leader Adam Hasner has been the most aggressive candidate in likening himself to conservative freshman Sen. Marco Rubio; other candidates are former appointed Sen. George LeMieux and businessmen Mike McCalister and Craig Miller.

Chocola says he’s interested in talking to U.S. Rep. Allen West, R-Plantation, who hasn’t slammed the door on the possibility he’ll run in 2012 for the seat held by Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson.