This afternoon’s key word: “monitoring.”

Chief Financial Officer and 2010 Democratic governor candidate Alex Sink’s campaign announced she’s returning at least $2,000 in Rothstein-related contributions. The campaign has pledged to return more money if other contributors are determined to be tainted.

The Florida Democratic Party, which got a $200,000 check from Rothstein’s law firm in September, says it is “monitoring” the accusations against Rothstein and will return the money if it turns out to be tainted. The Republican Party of Florida, which has received about $500,000 from Rothstein and his law firm since 2002, also says it is “monitoring” the case.

And Gov. Charlie Crist, whose 2010 U.S. Senate campaign got $4,800 apiece from Rothstein and his wife? You guessed it: “monitoring” the allegations.

Read detailed statements after the jump…..

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Florida Democratic Party Executive Director Joseph Leonard is going to work for President Barack Obama’s administration.

Joseph, 34, is taking over as chief of staff at the Department of Homeland Security Office of Policy.

The Dems tapped a Florida outsider, Scott Arcenaux, to replace Joseph as ED and also serve as political director.

Joseph, who also worked on John Kerry’s presidential campaign, has been at the ED post for about three years and first went to work for the state party in 2005.

Arcenaux was also executive director for the Louisiana state party and was U.S. Sen. Chris Dodd’s national political director in his losing presidential bid.

Florida Democrats appear to be spared a costly primary election for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Mel Martinez.

State Sen. Dan Gelber has dropped out of the race against U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek, who’s already collected more than $1 million in campaign contributions.

“It makes little sense — when we do face the prospect of real change in Florida — for me to participate in a potentially divisive primary for U.S. Senate that will only serve to diminish our chances against a very formidable and well-known Republican nominee,” Gelber, D-Miami Beach, said in a message posted on Facebook.

Republicans so far still have a potentially divisive primary on their hands. Former House Speaker Marco Rubio is still in the race against Gov. Charlie Crist despite Republican Party of Florida Chairman Jim Greer’s endorsement of the governor.

Democrats, too, want to avoid costly and potentially politically damaging primaries, as Gelber said to his supporters on a Facebook posting.

Gelber’s expressed an interested in running for attorney general, along with fellow senator Dave Aronberg of Greenacres and former state senator Rod Smith. Gelber’s name is also being tossed around as a possible running mate with CFO Alex Sink, who is likely to be the Democratic candidate for governor.
Read Gelber’s message after the jump.
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Minutes after she announced her candidacy for governor, Florida Democratic Party leader Karen Thurman and former governor and U.S. Sen. Bob Graham endorsed Alex Sink.

Sink, with U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson one of only two Democrats elected to statewide office, ended speculation about her run the day after Gov. Charlie Crist announced he would not seek reelection but would run to replace retiring GOP U.S. Sen. Mel Martinez.

“In just a short period of time, Alex has already cut wasteful spending, cracked down on financial fraud and scams, reformed government contracting and provided our state with a fresh approach to solving problems and restoring Florida’s economy,” Graham said in a statement.

“Floridians are cheering today now that Alex Sink has announced her candidacy for governor. As a businesswoman who delivers real results for the people of Florida, CFO Alex Sink is not only the Democrats’ strongest candidate but she’s the very best candidate for the job,” Thurman’s release said.

Although Sink has been mum about her plans, her attention from national Democrats has not gone unnoticed.

Recently, one of Boca Raton U.S. Rep. Ron Klein’s aides, Stephanie Grutman, came to work for Sink. Sink hired spokeswoman Kyra Jennings, a veteran of several Democratic congressional campaigns, about three months ago.

Florida Democratic Party Chairwoman Karen Thurman appealed to acting U.S. Attorney Thomas Kirwan to investigate Republican state House Speaker Ray Sansom for public corruption.
Citing the work of the St. Pete Times and the Palm Beach Post, Thurman said there were too many questions around Sansom and a job he received with Northwest Florida State College last month.
From Thurman’s letter:

I called on Governor Charlie Crist to “immediately order the appropriate law enforcement agencies to investigate this matter to clear the ethics cloud around Sansom caused by the appearance of quid-pro-quo corruption.” Rather than ordering an investigation, Crist simply said, “Next question,” while continuing to defend Ray Sansom. Therefore, I take the extraordinary step today of requesting an investigation of this matter by federal law enforcement authorities.

UPDATE: The RPOF shoots back: “Barack Obama has pledged to set up a bipartisan administration and revive theeconomy. We take him at his word. Florida Democrat Chairman Karen Thurman, however, refuses to follow the lead of President-Elect Obama, continuing to hurl hyper-partisan attacks across the aisle instead of working for change.
UPDATE II: A response to the response from Jotkoff.
Florida Democratic Party communications director Eric Jotkoff sends out an “interested parties” memo this morning trying to connect the dots on some of the recent embarrassments for Republican Gov. Charlie Crist and his party:

Crist’s defense of embattled Speaker Ray Sansom, continued support for his hand picked Republican Party of Florida Chairman Jim Greer, and the fact that Crist bundler Harry Sargeant III remains RPOF Finance Chairman proves that while Crist continues smiling for the cameras his out-of-touch optimism and George W. Bush-like inattentiveness have allowed Republican corruption to fester, our economy to tank, and Floridians to suffer. Rather than stepping up to the plate and leading Florida during these tough times, Charlie Crist’s only reaction is to say “Next Question.”

Read the full memo here.

Democrats from the Treasure Coast and Suncoast today announced unanimous support to re-elect Karen Thurman as Florida Democratic Party chairwoman. Thurman is being challenged by Miami-Dade Democrat Bret Berlin.
Continue reading for full releases.

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