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.

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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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.

House panels Monday narrowed the roster of proposed redistricting plans for Congress and the state House, – settling on new maps that proponents say help keep more cities and counties together within individual district boundaries.

In the House Congressional Redistricting Subcommittee, three proposed maps were approved  on 10-4 votes, with Democrats locked in opposition. The House earlier unveiled seven proposed congressional plans and five ways to redraw state House districts.

A separate panel Monday also reduced to three the number of House plans slated for later review by the full House Redistricting Committee.

Rep. Dwayne Taylor, D-Daytona Beach, who led opponents to the congressional proposals, said lawmakers should take the proposed plans on the road for another round of public hearings — similar to those conducted through the summer when no maps were available for review.

Another critic of the plans, Jim Roach, a Cape Coral businessman and Democratic candidate for Congress, also argued that the plans should be rejected because they tend to pack Democratic registered voters into districts.

Roach’s analysis of the proposals for 27 congressional districts — up from the state’s current 25 districts, because of population gains in the 2010 Census — showed that as many as 14 proposed districts are Republican leaning, in terms of registered voters. The plans create a maximum of 11 districts that are Democratic leaning, Roach said.

Democrats currently command a more than 500,000-voter advantage over Republicans in Florida.

But 19 of the state’s 25 members of Congress are Republicans — a disparity Democrats attribute to gerrymandering in the last redistricting go-around in 2002.

Roach said that in the proposed 11 districts where Democratic voters dominate, they outnumber Republicans by more than 20 percent — an overwhelming advantage that reduces the party’s overall strength and ability to compete in neighboring districts.

“That’s packing,” Roach said.

Rep. John Legg, R-Port Richey, co-chairman of the subcommittee, countered saying the proposed maps were drawn without consideration of voter registraion totals. Legg said voter-approved Amendments 5 and 6 to the state constitution require that lawmakers draw boundaries without consideration of political party or incumbents.

Legg said lawmakers and staff members steered clear of such data when crafting the maps.

Rep. Scott Plakon, R-Longwood, also said Taylor’s call for more public hearings would likely only prompt accusations that ruling Republicans were seeking to delay redistricting.  Another road show also could threaten the likelihood of getting new boundaries approved in time for candidate qualifying in June, Plakon said.

“It’s probably impractical to do,” Plakon said.

The three proposals approved Monday were scheduled to go before the full House Redistricting Committee later this month.

In Palm Beach County, the plans are identical. The most dramatic changes being made reduce the eight-county district now served U.S. Rep. Tom Rooney, R-Tequesta, to four counties, including northern Palm Beach County. The Broward-Palm Beach county district held by U.S. Rep. Allen West, R-Plantation, loses a key, Republican-dominated portion of the county’s north coastline to Rooney.

West’s district becomes more Broward-oriented and gains more registered Democrats, likely making his 2012 re-election bid tougher.

The three state House proposals all create a new, Hispanic-oriented district in Palm Beach County, centered in the Lake Worth-Palm Springs area.

To create the district, many of the voters are moved from the district currently served by Rep. Jeff Clemens, D-Lake Worth. Clemens last month announced that he  expected to run for a still-to-be-determined Senate seat in Palm Beach County, saying he was frustrated by how voters in his District 89 were being scattered into other districts under House plans.

Thursday’s cave-in by Speaker John Boehner and House GOP leaders on a two-month extension of a payroll tax holiday drew noticeably different reactions from the two Republicans in Palm Beach County’s congressional delegation.

With the 2 percent cut in Social Security taxes set to expire Dec. 31, the House had approved a one-year extension, but the Senate voted 89-10 for a two-month deal before leaving Washington. Given the choice between a two-month extension and nothing, the House initially voted to reject the Senate version and demand a conference with Senators to iron out differences. The Senate didn’t budge, and the House GOP drew criticism for potentially allowing higher payroll taxes on Jan. 1.

The decision to accept the Senate’s two-month extension got a cautious endorsement from U.S. Rep. Tom Rooney, R-Tequesta, and a denunciation from U.S. Rep. Allen West, R-Plantation.

Said Rooney: “I’m frustrated that the Senate left town and refused to negotiate a long-term agreement, but I am glad we will be able to prevent a tax hike from hitting middle class families, while correcting some of the errors in the Senate bill that made it unworkable for small businesses.”

Said West: “The politics of demagoguery have won over pragmatic principle and policy with the concession to enact tax policy on a two-month basis. This is a sad day for America and further evidences our continuing demise. Men and women of principle are becoming a dying breed in this Republic.”

U.S. Rep. Tom Rooney, R-Tequesta, and his brother, state Rep. Pat Rooney Jr., R-West Palm Beach, would both have tougher reelection battles under early redistricting plans put forward by the Florida legislature.

Read about it in this week’s Politics column, where you’ll also read about potential redistricting implications for U.S. Rep. Allen West, R-Plantation, and his declared Democratic challengers Lois Frankel and Patrick Murphy.

Democratic challenger Lois Frankel wasted little time Thursday challenging speculation that U.S. Rep. Allen West could head north — out of a redrawn, Democratic-leaning district and into a primary fight with fellow Republican U.S. Rep. Tom Rooney.

West’s chief of staff, Jonathan Blyth, downplayed talk Wednesday among Republican consultants that his boss was looking for friendlier turf, with the Plantation congressman eyeing the political backyard of Rooney, who lives in Tequesta.

Frankel, though, seized on the chatter, serving up some political trash talk.

“It looks like Mr. West is afraid of a real fight, which is what he will get when he faces me in a general election,” said Frankel, who faces a Democratic primary contest with Broward County accountant Patrick Murphy. “Mr. West: don’t cut and run…stay and fight. I am not retreating to anywhere. I am staying right here.”

 Blyth later fired back at Frankel.

“Congressman West is a 22- year veteran of the U.S. Army who served in real combat against enemies of our nation,” Blyth said. “Lt. Colonel West has never cut and run protecting and defending citizens of our nation.”

 

U.S. Rep. Tom Rooney, R-Tequesta, says he doesn’t disagree with the House GOP leadership’s piecemeal approach to the economy.

But Rooney has introduced his own comprehensive “Restore America Act” that addresses taxes, regulations and domestic energy production in a single piece of legislation.

“I’m sick of people asking ‘Where’s your jobs plan?’ So here it is,” Rooney says in this week’s Politics column, where you’ll also read about CFO Jeff Atwater‘s take on the U.S. Senate race and business reaction to a new countywide commission chairman idea.

Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum, who has focused primarily on Iowa and other early states rather than Florida, will visit a Palm Beach County Republican Party picnic on Saturday at John Prince Park in Lake Worth, party officials said today.

Representatives of Santorum’s campaign could not be reached this morning.

U.S. Reps. Allen West, R-Plantation, and Tom Rooney, R-Tequesta, are also expected at the event, which runs from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the park’s Center Drive Pavilion. Admission is $20 for adults, $10 for children and $50 for a family of four. Griffin Perry, the son of Texas Gov. Rick Perry, is also expected to attend.

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.

Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney rolled out a list of endorsements from two state Senators and 22 state House members today.

If you’re keeping score, that brings Romney’s Florida legislative endorsement total to 36, including 8 Senators and 28 House members.

The only local on Romney’s new endorsement list is state Rep. Pat Rooney Jr., R-Palm Beach Gardens. Rooney’s brother, U.S. Rep. Tom Rooney, R-Tequesta, endorsed Romney earlier this year and on Monday joined U.S. Reps. Connie Mack and Ander Crenshaw as honorary co-chairs for the Romney campaign in Florida.

Romney has also snagged recent Florida endorsements from Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam and Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater of North Palm Beach.

A list of Romney’s legislative endorsements is after the jump…

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U.S. Rep. Tom Rooney, R-Tequesta, says he wants more information about potential cuts to defense and security spending before he decides whether to support a bipartisan debt-ceiling compromise.

Rooney said he hopes to talk Monday with House Armed Services Committee Chairman Buck McKeon, R-Calif., and Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers, R-Mich., about the impact of potential cuts.

“If they can both live with it, then it would be much easier for me to support it,” said Rooney, who is a member of both committees.

“The very fact that we’re getting cuts in exchange for raising the debt ceiling is a positive,” Rooney said.

U.S. Rep. Tom Rooney, R-Tequesta, says he’ll support a revised debt-ceiling plan offered by Speaker John Boehner after Boehner today added a requirement that Congress pass a balanced budget constitutional amendment and send it to the states for ratification before the debt limit could be raised in the future.

Rooney had not announced a position on Boehner’s plan before today. A scheduled vote on Boehner’s original plan was put off Wednesday and again Thursday because of resistance from some House Republicans.

Says Rooney: “Attaching a balanced budget amendment sends a message to the American people that we’re listening to them, and we’re serious about tackling Washington’s debt problem. A balanced budget amendment is the type of meaningful reform we need to prevent another debt ceiling crisis like we face today…It’s time for the President and Senate Democrats to stop finger-pointing and act. The onus is on the President and Democrats in the Senate to explain why they oppose balancing the budget.”

The National Republican Congressional Committee’s demand today that Democratic House hopeful Lois Frankel return “tainted dollars” from developer Dan Catalfumo produced some quick results — but not the ones the GOP wanted.

Frankel, who hopes to unseat U.S. Rep. Allen West, R-Plantation, isn’t returning the $5,000 she got from Catalfumo.

But the campaign of U.S. Rep. Tom Rooney, R-Tequesta, will give up $4,600 that Catalfumo contributed in 2008. The money will be given to a home for unwed mothers. Asked why Rooney is returning the Catalfumo cash, a spokesman referred a reporter to the NRCC.

After Frankel accused West of hating women, the NRCC blasted Frankel for accepting contributions from Catalfumo, who was charged with beating his ex-fiancee in a case that ended with a jury finding Catalfumo not guilty in 2005.

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U.S. Rep. Tom Rooney, R-Tequesta, has signed on as a cosponsor of a bill that says pay checks for members of Congress should be assigned the absolute lowest priority if the federal government runs out of borrowing capacity next week and the Treasury Department has to prioritize which obligations to honor first.

The bill’s sponsor is Rep. Jim Cooper, D-Tenn.

Says Rooney: “I remain hopeful that we can reach an agreement that will prevent a default, cut spending significantly and implement serious reforms to ensure that we don’t face a debt crisis like this in the future. Congress needs to do its job, but if August 3 rolls around and there’s still no deal, then we absolutely should not get paid.”

In other default contingency planning, Sen. Bill Nelson has introduced legislation to guarantee Social Security checks keep flowing if no debt deal is reached. And Sen. Marco Rubio is a cosponsor of a bill requiring Treasury to assign the highest priority to publicly held debt, Social Security checks and pay for active-duty military personnel.

Freshman tea party U.S. Rep. Allen West, R-Plantation, is supporting House Speaker John Boehner‘s new debt-ceiling plan — potentially providing important cover for other tea partyers who say the plan doesn’t go far enough.

West announced his support Monday night via Twitter, tweeting: “I will support the new debt deal- it has enough of what I need including no tax hikes, spending caps and a step toward a balanced budget.”

Boehner’s plan calls for $1.2 trillion in cuts over 10 years in exchange for a $1 trillion increase in the debt ceiling. That means Congress will have to revisit the debt ceiling early next year. President Obama wants a debt ceiling increase that will get beyond the 2012 election.

It’s not clear today whether Boehner’s plan has enough Republican votes to pass. Rep. Jim Jordan, R-S.C., head of the conservative Republican Study Committee, came out against it.

Rep. Tom Rooney, R-Tequesta, is studying the Boehner plan and hasn’t announced a position, his office said.

In a nationally televised speech tonight on the federal debt crisis, President Obama sought to mobilize public opinion against conservative House Republicans who have resisted higher taxes as part of a “balanced” debt deal.

“The only reason this balanced approach isn’t on its way to becoming law right now is because a significant number of Republicans in Congress are insisting on a cuts-only approach – an approach that doesn’t ask the wealthiest Americans or biggest corporations to contribute anything at all,” Obama said.

The two Republicans in Palm Beach County’s congressional delegation took immediate exception.

“Blame GOP, talk about a plan that’s not on the table,” U.S. Rep. Tom Rooney, R-Tequesta, said in a text message as soon as the president finished his speech.

Said U.S. Rep. Allen West, R-Plantation: “”Once again the President gives us more words, same old same old, with no real solution. The president says he won’t budge without taxing the rich, I say look at the figures. The top 1% of Americans pay 32 % of taxes, the top 5 % pay 50 % of taxes. The solution is not to keep taxing. House Republicans have continued to produce one plan after the next, and all of these plans have been rejected. Senator Harry Reid and the Senate have had 815 days to produce a budget and have come up with nothing, so in my book they have zero credibility. Tonight’s speech reflected nothing more than President Barack Obama’s continued failure of leadership.”

House Speaker John Boehner followed Obama’s speech with a shorter address defending the GOP position.

“The solution to this crisis is not complicated: if you’re spending more money than you’re taking in, you need to spend less of it,” said Boehner, who accused Obama of seeking a “blank check” on spending.

Read the text of the Obama and Boehner speeches after the jump….

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U.S. Rep. Tom Rooney, R-Tequesta, is endorsing Mitt Romney in the crowded 2012 GOP presidential primary, the Romney camp announced tonight while the former Massachusetts governor is making a campaign swing through Florida.

Romney headlined a 2008 fund-raiser for Rooney‘s first congressional race and publicly supported Rooney’s slam-dunk reelection bid during a Florida endorsement spree last year.

Romney is on a three-day Florida fund-raising tour that featured a visit to developer and former ambassador to the Bahamas Ned Siegel‘s house in Boca Raton on Tuesday. In addition to the Rooney endorsement, Romney on Thursday is expected highlight previously announced endorsements from U.S. Reps. Connie Mack, R-Cape Coral, and Ander Crenshaw, R-Jacksonville, and from state Sen. John Thrasher, R-Jacksonville.

U.S. Rep. Tom Rooney, R-Tequesta, will be featured in a Man-Eating Super Snake episode on the Animal Planet channel on Wednesday at 8 p.m. to talk about the Everglades python menace.

On the show, the congressman discusses his proposed legislation to protect the Everglades and surrounding communities by restricting the importation of Burmese pythons, African rock pythons and the like. The snakes threaten people, pets and farm animals and can also cause extensive damage to Florida’s ecosystem.

“Banning the importation of these dangerous snakes is critical to the survival of the Everglades and the surrounding ecosystems,” said Rooney. “These invasive predators are causing severe damage to our native wildlife, and they need to be eradicated.”

U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, viewed the Osama bin Laden death photos early this afternoon and said there should be “no doubt” that the U.S. killed the Islamic terrorist mastermind in Pakistan this month.

Nelson supports President Obama‘s decision not to make the photos public, but says they should be released “as early as it can be determined that doing so won’t expose Americans to harm.”

A parade of Senators and House members on committees that oversee intelligence and the military have been making the trek to CIA headquarters in Langley, Va., this week to view the photos. U.S. Rep. Tom Rooney, R-Tequesta, inspected them and offered his thoughts earlier today.

Read Nelson’s complete statement after the jump…

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