Florida will not appeal a federal court decision that removed spending restraints from Republican Rick Scott’s already record-breaking gubernatorial campaign, a Florida Secretary of State spokeswoman said Wednesday, leaving further appeals to Scott’s political rivals.

But some experts said the state’s decision to acknowledge problems with its taxpayer-funded campaign finance program could also expose Florida’s $500 contribution limit — already the lowest in the country — to a similar challenge.

“I’m surprised there hasn’t been a challenge already,” said University of Florida political science professor Clifford A. Jones, a campaign finance law expert.

Story here.

A pair of contributors to Gov. Charlie Crist’s U.S. Senate campaign have filed a lawsuit demanding their money back after Crist dropped his party affiliation and decided to run as an independent, the Naples News reports today.

Linda Morton of Naples, who donated $500, and John Rood of Jacksonville, who donated $4,800, are the plaintiffs. They’re represented by state Rep. Tom Grady, R-Naples, who resigned in April as a regional chairman of Crist’s Senate campaign after falsely accusing Crist of scrubbing his web site of any mention of the word “Republican.”

Crist has, essentially, said he will not return donations because he needs the money.

This story was printed Aug. 12 on page 1A of The Palm Beach Post.

TALLAHASSEE — Gov. Charlie Crist’s plans for a third high-profile climate summit have been indefinitely postponed as the Republican weighs the political cost of the event’s expensive price tag.

But Crist’s reluctance to appear out of touch with financially frustrated Floridians — and perhaps his party’s conservative base — has not stopped him from asking the event’s sponsors to help fund his U.S. Senate campaign.

Campaign finance reports show Crist has collected $106,500 from individuals and companies tied to past sponsors of his climate summits. That total is 40 percent of the costs of his 2006 summit and nearly 20 percent of the expenses of last year’s event.

Postponing the summit has also raised questions about whether Crist, who is facing an aggressive primary challenge and a restless base in the state GOP, is backing away from the environmental issues that marked his first two years in office.

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Former Republican state Rep. Joe Negron raised another $134,475 over the last two weeks — that’s better than a $9,600-a-day clip — to bring his contribution total to $373,644 for the special Aug. 4 election for the District 28 state Senate seat.

Negron has spent $118,267 so far, according to reports filed Friday night.

Democrat Bill Ramos has raised a total of $25,828, which includes $5,500 from the Florida Democratic Party and $1,000 from Martin County’s Democratic Executive Committee. He has spent $11,896.

Negron and Ramos are on the ballot to replace retiring state Sen. Ken Pruitt, R-Port St. Lucie, in a Treasure Coast-Palm Beach County district.

Write-in candidate Josue Larose, who according to voter records is a 28-year-old Deerfield Beach resident, reported that he put $50,000 of his own money into his campaign this week as an in-kind contribution for “paying the advertising.”

Larose apparently enjoys being a longshot. In addition to his write-in bid for the Senate seat, he has opened a 2010 campaign for governor.