Gov. Charlie Crist, who has lost a string of straw polls in the U.S. Senate GOP primary, when asked this morning how much straw polls matter:

“Not a lot, as I’ve said before. You know, the only poll that matters is Election Day and I can’t wait for it.”

Lt. Gov. Jeff Kottkamp, in one of two e-mails last week announcing straw poll victories in the Republican primary for attorney general:

“I am extremely excited to win the FFCR (Florida Federation of College Republicans) straw poll.”

State Sen. Dan Gelber and attorney general candidate nailed down another big-name Democratic endorsement, this time from Buddy McKay, who served as lieutenant governor under the late Gov. Lawton Chiles and briefly served as governor after Chiles’ death.

Gelber, a Miami Beach Democrat and former House member, is trying to trade up for the Cabinet post just a year after he won election to the Senate.

He and colleague Dave Aronberg, a Democratic senator from Greenacres, are in a battle-of-the-endorsements.

Post On Politics had erroneously reported that the sheriffs were split on the candidates.

They are not.

Aronberg has the support of 10 Democratic sheriffs, including Palm Beach County’s own law enforcement rock star Ric Bradshaw.

Former U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno, former state education commissioner Betty Castor and former U.S. Rep. Jim Davis have all thrown their support behind Gelber.

Republicans have lined up Lt. Gov. Jeff Kottkamp and Holly Benson, a former House member who also served as secretary of the Agency for Health Care Administration, in a GOP primary race that’s been virtually silent compared to the Aronberg/Gelber contest.

They’re all vying to replace Attorney General Bill McCollum, a Republican who is running for governor in a primary against another senator - Paula Dockery.

Gelber’s latest political aspiration has opened up the door for yet another former senator, Gwen Margolis, to return to the chamber.

Margolis, a former Senate President, left office before being termed out to make room for Gelber. If she wins, it would be the Miami Beach-area Democrat’s second return trip to the Senate. After serving in the state House, she switched to the Senate from 1981-1992 before making a losing bid for Congress. Margolis was reelected to the Senate in 2002.

Benson

Democrats also have a primary in the race for this office: state Sens. Dave Aronberg and Dan Gelber are both candidates.

Benson, a former state House lawmaker from Pensacola, resigned from her state agency gig earlier this month after telling Gov. Charlie Crist about her plans to run. Crist said he asked Benson to quite, noting that he was similarly asked to resign as state education commissioner after telling then-Gov. Jeb Bush about his plans to seek another elected office.

Read Benson’s press release here. Meanwhile, Florida Democrats manage to take shots at both Benson and Kottkamp in this release.

Agency for Health Care Administration Secretary Holly Benson resigned from her post this morning, the day after meeting with Gov. Charlie Crist who appointed her to the post in Feb. 2008.

“I had a meeting with the Governor the other day to talk about some opportunities that lie ahead, and I regret that because of those opportunities I will no longer be able to serve as your Secretary,” Benson wrote in an e-mail to AHCA workers this morning.

Benson, a former state representative from the Panhandle, is expected to jump into the attorney general’s race next month, according to sources close to the Pensacola Republican. That could elevate interest in a GOP primary against Lt. Gov. Jeff Kottkamp, who’s already announced his candidacy to replace Bill McCollum. Democratic state Sens. Dave Aronberg of Greenacres and Dan Gelber of Miami Beach are already engaged in a heated battle for the state’s top law enforcement chief.

Crist tapped Benson, a bond lawyer, to head AHCA in 2008. Before that, she left her Pensacola House seat to head DBPR, again at Crist’s bidding.

In the House, Benson was the force behind a model Medicaid reform project that has had mixed results. (more…)

Also at the conference at the PGA Resort and Spa is Bob Butterworth, the Democrat who served four terms as attorney general from 1987 to 2003 and was sheriff of Broward County in the 1970s. Butterworth was Republican Gov. Charlie Crist’s appointee to head the Department of Children and Families before stepping down last year and going into private law practice in Broward County.

Asked if he’ll take sides in the 2010 race for his old job, Butterworth said, “I’m not sure at this point in time. We have very good people running on both sides of the aisle.” He added that he’s not sure whether all the candidates for AG have entered the race — a reference, no doubt, to former Democratic state Sen. Rod Smith, who’s considering a run for the top legal post.

Republican Jeff Kottkamp will attempt to do what no other Florida lieutenant governor has done in modern history: win another elected office.

But to be successful, his campaign for Florida attorney general will have to overcome the relative obscurity of his current office along with a constant barrage of questions about his use of the state plane.

Perhaps no Florida politician was affected more than Kottkamp by Gov. Charlie Crist’s decision to not seek re-election in 2010 and instead run for the U.S. Senate.

Crist’s announcement left Kottkamp without a running mate. But it also set off a wave of politicians scampering for offices newly opened in Crist’s wake, including the attorney general’s job.

(more…)

There’s a woman responsible for Lt. Gov. Jeff Kottkamp’s new bare-naked face: Mrs. Kottkamp.

Kottkamp said he got rid of his mustache “on the advice of my wife” Cindy.

“She saw me on a TV interview and said it didn’t show up very well anymore,” Kottkamp, 48, said.

After

The Cape Coral Republican appeared at events in Tallahassee today sans facial hair, apparently escaping the notice of the Capitol Press Corps.

Before

Gelber, state Sen. Dave Aronberg, D-Greenacres, and former Democratic state Sen. Rod Smith of Alachua are all continuing to explore runs for the state’s top legal post in 2010. Incumbent AG Bill McCollum is running for governor.

The three potential Democratic candidates have talked extensively to each other over the last few weeks about avoiding a primary, but so far none has ruled out running.

“When we get into these primaries, it tends to become a circular firing squad,” Gelber said today.

(more…)

Power lawyer George LeMieux, former chief of staff to Gov. Charlie Crist and former deputy attorney general when Crist was AG, notes in his latest online political newsletter that he’s a potential candidate for AG now that incumbent Bill McCollum is poised to run for governor.

He also notes that Dems Dave Aronberg, Dan Gelber and Rod Smith are potential AG candidates (Read more about the looming Democratic battle here).

LeMieux lists Lt. Gov. Jeff Kottkamp and state Rep. Tom Grady as potential Republican candidates, then notes: “Yours truly has also been mentioned as a contender, having served three years as Deputy Attorney General – the number two legal officer in the state.”

LeMieux’s prediction: “The AG’s race will be wide open.”