Dave Bitner, who just last week said he was stepping down as Florida Republican Party chairman, has died.

Florida GOP Vice-Chairman Lenny Curry, who was slated to step up into the chairman’s role later this month, announced Bitner’s death Thursday.

Bitner, 62, had been battling Lou Gehrig’s disease. He was diagnosed with the illness in April and went into hospice last week.

 ”It has been the honor of a lifetime to work by Chairman Bitner’s side,” Curry said. ”Not only was Dave a born leader, he was an exemplary man in every sense. In honor of his example, I am committed to ensure that the Republican Party of Florida continues its tradition of service to our beloved state.”

Thom Rumberger, a Tallahassee lawyer whose environmental activism and skills as a political strategist cast him in a central role in many of Florida’s milestone events of the past half-century, died Wednesday night. He was 79.

Rumberger was an advisor to former Republican Gov. Claude Kirk and was the GOP candidate for Attorney General in 1970, a time when the party which now controls Florida government was a minority, vastly overwhelmed by ruling Democrats.

Rumberger, though, proved pivotal to the party’s emergence.

As a lawyer representing the Republican Party during 1992 redistricting, Rumberger helped GOP legislators forge a deal with another political minority — black Democrats –resulting in the drawing of legislative and congressional boundaries that gave both interests the opportunity to win seats.

Four years later, Rumberger looked on as then-Rep. Daniel Webster, R-Winter Garden, was sworn-in as Florida’s first Republican House speaker in 122 years.

Rumberger’s legal career began with the firm of Maguire, Voorhis and Wells in Orlando.  He later served as an acting sheriff, judge and county attorney for Seminole County before becoming a founding member of the law firm, Rumberger, Kirk & Caldwell.

Among his passions was the Everglades. He  was general counsel for Save Our Everglades, a movement that placed a ballot initiative on the 1996 ballot that would have imposed a penny-per-pound tax on sugar to help restore the ecosystem polluted by farm runoff.

The tax was rejected by voters. But Floridians did endorse other amendments requiring that polluters pay for Everglades cleanup and that a trust fund  be created to finance restoration. The ballot action set the stage for more ambitious state and federal Everglades initiatives in later years.

Rumberger was lead counsel for the Everglades Foundation since 1989.

Mary Barley, president of the Everglades Trust, called Rumberger “one of a kind.”

“Thom Rumberger has been a courageous, vigilant guardian of the bountiful treasures and gragile nature of Florida’s — and America’s — most unique Everglades ecosystem,” Barley said. “His legal brilliance, political wisdom, and unflinching commitment to preserve and protect our precious Everglades place him among the greatest Floridians.”

Florida Republican Party Chairman Dave Bitner told GOP leaders Wednesday that he was resigning because of health problems and urged them to elect Vice Chairman Lenny Curry of Jacksonville as his successor. 

Bitner, a former Charlotte County legislator and lobbyist, was diagnosed with Lou Gehrig’s disease in April. Bitner has been using a mechanized wheelchair to get around.

 But in an afternoon conference call with members of the state party’s executive committee, Bitner hinted that his condition was growing more challenging.

Bitner also mentioned his wife, Wendy, who had played a central role in his campaign for the party chairmanship last winter.

“Now is a time when Wendy and I look to God for his grace and wisdom, as we write my life’s next chapter,” Bitner told REC members, reading from his resignation letter.

Bitner said he would step down Fri., Sept. 23, toward the end of the Florida GOP’s Presidency 5 convention. Bitner called a special meeting of party leaders in Orlando that day to elect his successor, endorsing Curry for the post. Curry is a businessman and Duval County chairman.

  ”Through it all, our vice chairman has shown the leadership and tenacity that makes our party such an effective political force,” Bitner said.

Bitner’s resignation — and the likely transition — will provide a coda to the P-5 event, scheduled for Sept. 22-24 at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando. The conference will include a nationally televised presidential debate, slated to be broadcast Sept. 22 on Fox-News.

The chairman’s role is expected to prove demanding in coming months, with Presidency 5 marking the effective launch of the 2012 presidential campaign in Florida. Next summer, the state party also will gain more prominence, with officials helping host the Republican National Convention in Tampa.

Bitner’s move drew condolences and praise from leadership within both of the state’s major parties Wednesday.

“I have known Chairman Bitner for a number of years,” said Florida Democratic Chairman Rod Smith. “While we often differ on our views, I have always respected him as a talented andable spokesman on behalf of his party. Party allegiance aside, we all wish Bitner the very best in the difficult days ahead.”

 Senate Majority Leader Andy Gardiner, R-Orlando, also said Bitner’s short reign at the party’s helm will endure.

“During the 15 years or so I’ve known Dave, he’s been an upbeat, loyal friend and leader,” Gardiner said. “He maintained those characteristics through his struggles with ALS while RPOF Chair. Following his resignation, he will leave an undeniable legacy in his professional path and as an example to us all.”

Florida Republican Party Chairman Dave Bitner, who was diagnosed with Lou Gehrig’s disease in April,  has scheduled a conference call this afternoon with members of the Republican Executive Committee to address his future as leader of the state party.

Bitner has been in a mechanized wheelchair for several months. What had been initially thought to be neuropathy, was revealed by tests to be  amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS),  a disease of the nerve cells in the brain and spinal column.

Bitner was elected party chief in January. Coming up for the party is the Sept. 22-24 Presidency 5 event, featuring a Fox-News nationally televised presidential debate. Next year, the Republican National Convention will be held in Tampa.

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.”

With the Legislature’s redistricting road show opening tonight in South Florida, Republicans and Democratic party bosses are doing their best to play the warm-up act.

Florida GOP Chairman Dave Bitner wrote his Democratic counterpart, Rod Smith, a stinging letter Monday, ripping him for claiming current legislative and congressional district boundaries make Florida “one of the most malapportioned states in the United States.”

Bitner pointed out in his letter that Smith, then a state senator, largely supported the map-making in 2002 that created the boundaries he’s now ridiculing.

Smith also was a member of a Senate Redistricting Committee that, like this year’s version, has failed to produce any proposed maps during its public hearing tour. Past news accounts produced by Bitner also place Smith – Zelig-like – behind moves that helped him win re-election, pulling Democrats from a fellow Democrat’s district and cutting adrift voters in Marion County who wanted to be included in the Senate district he served.

Instead, these Marion County voters were divided across four Senate districts in 2002. Such fracturing and incumbent favoritism would be outlawed under two new constitutional amendments approved by voters last fall and backed by Democratic allies.

“Chairman Smith, your hypocrisy is especially troubling because you are a former member of the Florida Legislature,” Bitner wrote. “You took an oath to uphold the constitution and the laws of Florida when you were sworn into office. You promised the citizens you represented that you would act in their best interest.”

Bitner concluded, “You can stop your boisterous partisan rhetoric that belies the documented legislative record that you undeniably possess.”

Smith fired back in a letter, noting that Bitner didn’t really refute how out of whack Florida district boundaries are, and that Republican lawmakers last year vigorously fought the constitutional amendment drive aimed at making districts more compact.

“Your letter is nothing more than a thinly veiled attempt to distract from producing the maps and the transparency Florida voters demanded,” Smith wrote. “Instead of writing letters, your party’s leaders should be opening the backroom door and sharing the maps.

 ”Let’s stop the political games,” the Democrat added. “Let’s make certain the will of the people is implemented by this very unwilling Republican Legislature.”

The Legislature’s current redistricting public hearing tour resumes tonight in Stuart, at the Blake Library, from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Lawmakers move to Boca Raton Tuesday morning, for a hearing at Florida Atlantic University, scheduled from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Running for a third term next fall, Democratic U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson can take some solace in this week’s Quinnipiac University poll that shows none of his potential Republican rivals so far emerging as a clear frontrunner.

A whopping 53 percent of registered Republicans told Quinnipiac they were undecided between former Rep. Adam Hasner of Delray Beach, former short-time U.S. Senate appointee George LeMieux, ex-steakhouse boss Craig Miller, and tea party courter Mike McAlister, who topped the field with support from 15 percent of voters.

Forty-six percent of respondents also told Quinnipiac they would support Nelson over any Republican, with the rival drawing 35 percent.

But before the Democratic incumbent gets too comfortable, he might look at his own disapproval rating among voters. Nelson plunged to 42 percent when Congress and President Obama forged their debt ceiling deal last week — the Florida senator’s lowest mark since his scraped 42 percent in August 2004.

But then, Nelson was still two years away from re-election. And that year, he faced off against politically damaged Republican Katherine Harris, in a non-presidential election year.

Post-debt deal, a plurality of those polled were willing to say Nelson deserved to be re-elected. But the 44-38 percent margin may be a little too close, especially since a frontrunning alternative is certain to emerge in coming months out of the pack of Republicans nipping at Nelson’s heels.

Sen. Mike Haridopolos’ abrupt departure from the Republican field prompted Florida Democrats to question whether it could be linked to his association with former state Republican Party chairman Jim Greer, who faces six felony counts of grand theft, money laundering and attempted fraud involving a consulting company he formed in 2009 that drew $200,000 from the party.

Greer is suing the party to recover about $124,000 in severance, which party leaders say was never approved.  Haridopolos’ signature is on the severance, but the Senate president has denied approving a pay-out to the former party chief.

Tim Baker, a Haridopolos spokesman, denied any connection to the candidate’s folding his campaign, with $2.4 million in his war chest — and the Greer case.

But Haridopolos is expected to give a deposition in late August to Cheney Mason, one of Greer’s lawyers, who recently completed a lead role as defense attorney for Casey Anthony.

Damon Chase, a Lake Mary attorney also representing Greer, said Monday, “I think the timing is significant. He knows his deposition is coming up and it’s going to be a videotaped deposition that the press will have as soon as it’s finished. He knows it’s going to leave Florida voters thinking, ‘is this the kind of liar we want representing us in the Senate?” (more…)

A poll released Wednesday by the usually right-leaning Sunshine State News shows Republican Gov. Rick Scott’s approval rating at a dismal 27 percent among Floridians, with 58 percent disapproving of the job done by the first-year governor.

Sunshine’s survey mirrors a Quinnipiac University poll in May that showed Scott’s approval at 29 percent, suggesting the governor’s attempt at overhauling his image with robo-calls and self-styled letters to newspaper editorial pages hasn’t paid off.

The numbers also stand in contrast to what appeared as a brief surge of popularity for the governor in June. A survey released then by Viewpoint Florida briefly countered the governor’s lagging poll numbers — giving Scott a 45 percent approval rating among Floridians.

Viewpoint Florida is run by Republican campaign operatives Randy Nielsen of West Palm Beach and Pat Bainter of Gainesville. They’re also big contractors for the Florida Republican Party.

Nielsen’s Public Concepts and Bainter’s Data Targeting show up in the latest finance reports unveiled by the Florida Republican Party, which also provides insight into the party’s effort to enhance Scott’s image.

Nielsen’s Public Concepts was paid $145,940 for direct mail work in May. Bainter’s Data Targeting collected $29,000 from the Florida GOP for consulting over the three months ending June 30, the party’s report shows.

Nielsen said the payments he received were for work on the Jacksonville’s mayor’s race. They had nothing to do with Scott, Nielsen said.

Meanwhile, Scott pollster Tony Fabrizio was paid $119,250 by the party the past quarter. Phone bank companies Advantage Inc., of Arlington, Va., and Election Connections.com of Tallahassee were paid $149,452 for three rounds of automated phone calls to voters, touting Scott’s budget-signing, demand for drug testing of welfare recipients and the state’s declining unemployment numbers.

Also part of the GOP’s effort to boost Scott: Harris Media, a Austin, Tx.-based public-relations firm which has opened a Tallahassee office and hired one of the governor’s daughters, drew $23,927.16 for web ads and $11,638 for website work from the state party.

Under fire from a pack of Republican challengers, Democratic U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson raised more than $1.8 million over the past three months for his re-election, his campaign reported Tuesday.

Nelson’s campaign was quick to point out that the top Republican fund-raiser this quarter, George LeMieux, had collected half the Democrat’s total since April 1.

LeMieux collected $950,000 to Senate President Mike Haridopolos’ $900,000 over the past three months. Former state House Majority Leader Adam Hasner of Delray Beach collected $560,000. A fourth likely well-heeled Republican, former Ruths’ Chris steakhouse CEO Craig Miller was flying around the state Tuesday, making his formal entry into the race.

“The support so far is adding to the momentum that’s building for Sen. Nelson’s re-election,” said Florida Democratic Party Chairman Rod Smith. “It’s a sign of strength and broad-based support.”

The Florida Republican Party pulled in $3.5 million in the three months ending June 30, more than three times that collected by state Democrats during the span, new finance records show.

Health care companies, a private prison firm, and utilities were among the GOP’s biggest givers — cash that tracked some of the biggest issues of the 2011 legislative session, ongoing for most of the reporting period.

Still, a relatively modest $5,000 contribution from Jacksonville Greyhound Racing is noteworthy because of its timing. The check was posted by the party on May 6 — the same day the Orange Park dog track played a central role in the chaotic closing hours of the Legislature.

A duel between the House and Senate over a tax break for the track — a political favorite of Senate Rules Chairman John Thrasher, R-St. Augustine — forced the session to spill into overtime.

 The House insisted on removing the tax break from what was considered must-pass legislation, and Senate President Mike Haridopolos, R-Melbourne, later said he was “embarrassed” by the stand-off between the two chambers, which also drew veiled questions about the U.S. Senate contender’s leadership skills.

Other GOP contributions were more conventional — and cash-laden. U.S. Sugar Corp., donated $225,000, Nextera Energy, the parent company of Juno Beach-base Florida Power & Light, gave $250,000, and the Boca Raton-based Geo Group, which hopes to gain a big portion of the state’s plan to privatize prisons across 18 counties, including Palm Beach and the Treasure Coast, gave $100,000 to the Florida GOP.

Republican U.S. Senate candidate George LeMieux on Monday became the last of the big three GOP challengers to Democrat Bill Nelson to tout his latest finance total — but he is claiming victory in the dollar race.

LeMieux’s campaign said that in the quarter ending June 30, it took in more than $950,000 — edging Senate President Mike Haridopolos’ $900,000 collected, and the $560,000 former state House Majority Leader Adam Hasner of Delray Beach is reporting raising.

“With contributors from all over Florida, George’s campaign continues to strengthen and his grassroots momentum is reflected in his fundraising success,” campaign manager Brian Seitchik wrote on LeMieux’s website.

Haridopolos, who has been in the race longest, remains the leading money-raiser to date, with $3.4 million collected so far. Fund-raising details aren’t expected to be provided at least until reports are due July 15. Nelson hasn’t revealed his cash totals yet.

The Republican contest also is poised to grow further, with former Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse CEO Craig Miller to announce his candidacy this week. Miller ran for Congress in Central Florida last fall, finishing third in the Republican primary field behind Sandy Adams, the Orlando Republican who went on to defeat Democratic  U.S. Rep. Suzanne Kosmas.

Brian Hughes, Rick Scott’s deputy communications director, is the latest gubernatorial staffer to make a career change – heading to the Florida Republican Party as its spokesman.

Hughes will take over from Trey Stapleton, who worked on Scott’s campaign. Stapleton is heading to Washington, D.C., and Hughes will become the new RPOF spokesman within the next two weeks, as the party gears up to serve as host for next summer’s Republican National Convention, in Tampa.

Hughes teamed with Scott communications director Brian Burgess to form what around the Capitol became known as the “two Brians,” a pair of aggressive defenders and promoters of the governor’s agenda. But with Scott marking his six-months in office on July 4, the governor’s office has lately undergone some door-swinging.

Scott chief-of-staff Mike Prendergast exited to the state Department of Veterans’ Affairs and top adviser Mary Anne Carter headed to her Tennessee home and a still-to-be-made-public 2012 political campaign. New chief-of-staff Steve MacNamara hasn’t said it, but clearly among his duties will be trying to improve Scott’s barnacle-scraping poll numbers.

With approval ratings scraping bottom and his name a virtual laugh line for Democrats, Gov. Rick Scott is retooling his leadership team, with a pair of top aides departing and a veteran government insider expected to join the administration.

Scott Chief-of-Staff Mike Prendergast, a retired Army colonel, was officially moved Wednesday to executive director of the Florida Department of Veterans’ Affairs, taking with him his $150,000 salary and becoming one of the governor’s best-paid agency heads.

The move came a day after Mary Anne Carter, a top Scott adviser, announced she will leave at the end of the month. Carter guided Scott’s campaign last summer, helping the former health care executive win his first run for elected office — powered by spending $73 million of his own cash.

Meanwhile, Senate President Mike Haridopolos’ chief-of-staff, Steve MacNamara, is considered a likely successor to Prendergast. MacNamara served in a similar role in the House, led a state agency and is a tenured professor at Florida State University.

“Steve is a master of the business of politics and policy,” said Sen. Don Gaetz, R-Niceville, in line to become Senate president next year. “He would be a real asset to this governor.”

While high-profile staff changes are not unusual, Scott’s recent predecessors, former Govs. Charlie Crist and Jeb Bush, managed to get through at least the first year without an overhaul.

Scott, who will reach his six-month mark in office July 4, may feel some urgency to re-pivot because of recent polls.

Full story, here:   http://bit.ly/mCfRoz

Former Miami Mayor Maurice Ferre, a Democrat who endorsed Rick Scott in last fall’s governor’s race, was named Tuesday by the Republican governor to the state’s Transportation Commission.

Ferre, 75, was named to a three-year term — succeeding Marcos Marchena. The appointment must be confirmed by the Florida Senate.

After losing his Quixotic bid to become the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate — drawing 4.9 percent of the vote in losing to then-U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek — Ferre said Scott would be the first Republican he voted for in 54 years of casting ballots.

Ferre said he liked Scott’s plan for Florida’s economy. Ferre also said he was mad at the “exclusionary direction” of the state Democratic Party, which had cold-shouldered him in his run for Senate.

Attorney General Pam Bondi responded Thursday to West Palm Beach Democratic Rep. Mark Pafford’s request to examine the circumstances surrounding Gov. Rick Scott’s staff stiff-arming Democratic protesters at his budget-signing last month at The Villages.

Bondi hinted she was concerned, but powerless to step in.

“Throughout my nearly two decades in public service, I have been committed to transparency and open government,” Florida’s top legal officer, a Republican, wrote. “While I do not take lightly the questions you have raised, Florida law does not empower me to investigate your concerns.”

Pafford, who earlier wrote Scott seeking a response, was among Florida House Democrats who urged Bondi and Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater, also a Republican, to push for more answers and an apology from the governor for his office’s role in bullying a couple dozen Democratic protesters at last month’s ceremony.

A governor’s staffer apparently urged Sumter County Sheriff’s deputies to rein-in the protesters, claiming the budget-signing was a private event. Deputies confronted the protesters, keeping them out of the governor’s view and ordering them to discard their signs.

For his part, Pafford said in  a statement, “While I appreciate Attorney General Pam Bondi’s acknowledgment letter, I remain concerned that constitutional rights protecting Florida’s citizens have purposely been ignored by the Governor’s Office.

 “Since January 2011, when members of the press were banned from attending inauguration events in the state capitol building, the pattern of privacy has been the norm. I believe Floridians want answers to what transpired in The Villages and accountability,” he added.

Term-limited state Sen. Mike Bennett abruptly ended his bid to unseat Democratic U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor on Monday, blaming a “fire in the belly” problem and frustration with spending most of his time fund-raising.

Bennett, 66, a Bradenton Republican who doesn’t live in Castor’s Tampa-area district, announced his candidacy late last month.

 At the time, Bennett said he was prepared to move to challenge the Democratic incumbent if redistricting next year didn’t tuck him into the boundaries served by Castor.

On Monday, Bennett called it quits. 

“In all honesty, I quickly realized that the ‘fire’ I was feeling was heartburn over constant fundraising, travel and the other demands of running for federal office. Traveling the world and fishing are candidly things I’m looking forward to catching up on when my term in the Florida Senate comes to an end,” Bennett said.

The U.S. Justice Department was asked by Florida officials Wednesday to approve the state’s sweeping new elections law for five counties that need such preclearance under the federal Voting Rights Act.

Secretary of State Kurt Browning submitted documents detailing law changes under CS/HB 1355, which Gov. Rick Scott signed into law May 18 over opposition from legislative Democrats, the League of Women Voters, NAACP and other organizations.

Critics of the law said it is designed to blunt Democratic turnout and weaken voter registration efforts in advance of the 2012 elections.

 The ACLU of Florida, the national ACLU, and Project Vote, a Washington, D.C., voters’ rights organization, sued last week in Miami federal court to stop statewide implementation of the law until Justice Department approval is obtained.

Browning had said earlier that he would not seek to enforce the state’s new standards in Hendry, Collier, Hardee, Hillsborough and Monroe counties until receiving Justice Department approval.

But he has gone ahead and ordered the new law to take effect in Florida’s 62 other counties, a move which triggered the ACLU legal challenge.

State and federal law require the state to have uniform elections laws.

“It looks like Browning is now trying to speed-up the process in hopes of covering up the mistake he made by ordering the law to take effect,” said Howard Simon, executive director of the ACLU of Florida.

Browning has defended his action, saying the new measure was to take effect upon becoming law. He acknowledged that preclearance was needed before the measure could be enforced in the five counties.

The Justice Department has at least 60 days to review documents submitted Wednesday by Browning.

Critics of the new law say it is designed to make registering to vote and casting ballots more difficult for minorities and low-income voters, who typically vote Democratic. Scott and Republican legislative leaders said the new standards

The law imposes strict regulation of third-party registration groups, including requiring that they turn in registration forms within 48 hours after they are signed. It also reduces the number of days available for early voting in Florida, although county election supervisors are required to maintain the same, 98 hours made available before Election Day.

Florida House Democrats urged a pair of Republican Cabinet members Tuesday to push for more answers and an apology from Republican Gov. Rick Scott for his office’s role in bullying a couple dozen Democratic protesters at last month’s budget-signing ceremony.

A Scott spokesman, Brian Burgess, last week acknowledged the governor’s office was wrong when a staffer apparently urged Sumter County Sheriff’s deputies to rein-in the protesters because the budget-signing was a private event.

Deputies confronted the protesters, keeping them out of the governor’s view and ordering them to discard their signs during the signing ceremony at The Villages in Central Florida.

Rep. Mark Pafford, D-West Palm Beach, last week asked Scott to explain the actions. Scott later told reporters he’d look into it, and Burgess released his statement Friday evening, blaming the action on “confusion among event staff, including an employee of the governor’s office.”

House Democrats, however, want to learn more. They want Atwater and Bondi whether civil liberties were violated and whether the governor’s office should reimburse any public funds used to hold the signing ceremony, which was live webstreamed on the Florida Republican Party website.

The Democrats concluded by asking Scott’s fellow Republicans, “What recommendations can you provide to ensure all Floridians that such a ”mistake,’ will not happen again?”

Jennifer Meale, a Bondi spokeswoman, said the attorney general was traveling to Atlanta in advance of Wednesday’s court hearing on the lawsuit by Florida and a dozen other states challenging the federal health care law.  

House Speaker Dean Cannon went more public Tuesday with his endorsement of Senate President Mike Haridopolos, who is among three Republican contenders looking to knock of Democratic U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson.

Cannon met with the Senate chief Tuesday in Orlando, calling him a “trusted friend, a valued legislative partner, and a much needed voice for conservative principles in Washington, DC.”

Cannon, R-Winter Park, and Haridopolos, R-Melbourne, were close allies during most of this spring’s legislative session, their first as leaders. The wheels came off toward the end, with Haridopolos later saying he was “embarrassed,” by the standoff between the two sides over legislation.

Among the bills that failed to win approval was one sought by Haridopolos, giving wrongly convicted William Dillon of the Senate boss’ home Brevard County $1 million in compensation for serving three decades behind bars.

On Tuesday, though, any hard feelings between the two chamber leaders seemed forgotten. Cannon said of Haridopolos, “ I am confident that he is the candidate that can finally retire Bill Nelson.”

Haridopolos heard similar comments in February. At a kick-off fundraiser, billed as a “private strategy session,” Haridopolos raised $1 million from lobbyists just before the session dawned.

Cannon was among those attending, drawing some notice for pledging his support for Haridopolos. Former state House Majority Leader Adam Hasner of Delray Beach and former U.S. Sen. George Lemieux of Fort Lauderdale have since joined the race.

Politico reported Tuesday that former Ruth’s Chris steak house CEO Craig Miller, who lost a congressional run last year, is also considering running for the Republican Senate nomination.

“I couldn’t ask for a better partner in the Florida Legislature and I look forward to having the speaker join me on the campaign trail,” Haridopolos said.