Lynch

But “fire-breathing liberal” Robert Wexler is.

So Lynch, running in an April 13 special election to replace Wexler, was warmly received by thousands of conservatives this afternoon.

“He is a candidate for the next House election that’s going to occur…It’s the seat vacated by that loudmouth Robert Wexler in Florida that you might remember from cable television,” said Wall Street Journal columnist John Fund in his introduction of Lynch.

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McCollum leads Sink, 41 percent to 31 percent, in a poll that has a 2.4 percent margin of error. McCollum held a 4-point lead in polls last August and October.

The poll also finds 57 percent of Floridians oppose the Democratic health care overhaul legislation moving through Congress and 55 percent favor increased drilling in federal waters off Florida — but not if rigs are as close as five miles from shore.

Poll respondents generally don’t support relaxing immigration laws in the wake of the earthquake in Haiti that is likely to increase the number of refugees leaving the island.

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Rubio

Rubio made a public pitch for debates Tuesday while speaking to more than 100 people at the Martin County Republican Women’s Federated in Stuart.

Crist

It’s part of a new, more aggressive Crist campaign strategy after several weeks of bad press for the Guv.

See the Rubio campaign’s latest debate proposal to the Crist camp after the jump…..

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It happened this afternoon when former Florida House Speaker Marco Rubio, who’s running in the GOP Senate primary against Gov. Charlie Crist, answered a question on immigration at a Martin County Republican Womens Federated meeting that drew more than 100 attendees.

Rubio delivered a six-minute discourse on immigration policy in which he brought up The Gipper’s support for the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986, which granted amnesty to most undocumented workers who could prove they had been in the country continuously for the previous five years.

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Rep. Alcee Hastings dialed up his opposition to the renewed deportations of Haitian nationals in a letter sent Tuesday evening, blasting both the policy and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement for waiting four days to inform his office of the decision.
“Many deported Haitians simply have no communities to which to return.
Sending people back to what remains a fragile nation is irresponsible and dangerous,” reads the letter, which has also been signed by Reps. Robert Wexler and Kendrick Meek. It was sent to Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff and Acting Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security John P. Torres.

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Rep. Gayle Harrell introduces immigration bills while members of the Florida Immigration Coalition protest the legislation.

Calling illegal immigration a “major problem” in Florida, state Rep. Gayle Harrell today celebrated a series of bills that she and others said would make it tougher for employers to hire undocumented workers and push local law enforcement to help identify illegal immigration.

“We need to deal with the problem we are having in our community with illegals,” said Harrell, a Stuart Republican running for Congress this year.

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Central American migrants jump a moving train in Mexico on their way to the United States. Gary Coronado/The Palm Beach Post.

Florida law enforcement officials could arrest persons who help immigrants illegally enter the state under a bill from Rep. William Snyder, R-Stuart. The bill received unanimous support from a House committee today and will be considered by the Safety & Security Council once the 2008 session starts in March.

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After apologizing last week for sending an e-mail that some in the state House found racist, Rep. Don Brown was deluged with more than 200 e-mails from around Florida and across the country. While some messages were critical, the vast majority supported the DeFuniak Springs Republican to continue speaking out on the topic and “don’t let them Imus you.” Here’s a sample of those e-mails:

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