Emotional pleas and threats of questionable savings and a danger to public safety failed to move an elite group of senators who gave preliminary approval to a sweeping prison privatization plan struck down by a judge last year.

Dozens of prison workers from throughout the state packed the Senate Rules Committee and testified for more than two hours on a fast-tracked proposal (SB 2038), pleading with the panel to slow down and warning that the savings for the state from outsourcing are overstated.

The privatization effort coincides with a Department of Corrections decision to shut down seven prisons and other facilities, doubling the prison workers’ worries.

Amanda Abers, 28, told the committee she moved from Minnesota to Florida a year ago to work at Indian River Correctional, a youth offender prison slated for closure.

“Vero Beach is not a big area. This is going to hit the economy very, very hard. You’re putting me out on the street plus their spouses, their kids, everybody,” she said.

Senate budget chief JD Alexander, who included the privatization in the budget last year and sponsor of the proposal, said the outsourcing will force the department to reexamine its spending and questioned its management after the discovery last year that the agency had 12,000 empty beds scattered throughout the system. Shutting down the prisons will save an estimated $77 million annually, Alexander said.

“Competition makes us all better. It’s uncomfortable. It’s not always fun. But I believe that it makes it better,” Alexander, R-Lake Wales, said.
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UPDATE: Senate President Mike Haridopolos’ spokeswoman Lyndsey Cruley issued a correction to the privatization bill committee stops. Haridopolos is giving the bill (SB 2038) reviving last year’s privatization of more than two dozen prisons another hearing in the budget committee – NOT the bill that would allow lawmakers to privatize state functions without public input until after contracts are signed.

Bowing to pressure from prison privatization critics including Sen. Mike Fasano, Senate President Mike Haridopolos has put the brakes – sort of – on a fast-tracked bill that would outsource all prison operations in an 18-county region south of Polk County to the Florida Keys.

But a bill that would give lawmakers the ability to outsource state functions without any public input until after the deals are done is still slated to be heard only in the Rules Committee that gave the measure a preliminary nod earlier this week.

Originally slated to be heard only in the Senate Rules Committee before being sent to the floor for a chamber vote, Haridopolos is now asking the Budget Committee to sign off on the bill (SB 2038) as well.

Fasano, chairman of the Senate Criminal and Civil Justice Appropriations Committee, asked Haridopolos to give committees like his more up-to-speed on privatization the chance to scrutinize the proposal.

“These bills deal with potential changes to policy of such a magnitude that they should not have originated in a procedural committee such as the Rules Committee. However, they were and have now been referred back to that very same committee with no further referrals. Only your office would know why that decision was made.

In my opinion a subject as complex as prison privatization should have been referred to the substantive committees that oversee this subject matter (i.e. Criminal Justice, Governmental Oversight and Accountability and Criminal & Civil Justice Appropriations). The Senate has a rich history as a deliberative body that examines and allows for full vetting of proposed policy changes both major and minor. I respectfully request that if these bills are acted upon favorably by the Rules Committee on January 23, 2012 that you pull them back into your office and refer them to at least the three substantive and appropriations committees I have suggested,” Fasano, R-New Port Richey, wrote to Haridopolos today.

Shortly after Fasano released his request, Haridopolos issued a memo defending the process in which the prison privatization was vetted last year and announcing additional committee stop for the privatization bill on Wednesday.

“After hearing questions and concerns from my fellow Senators in the Senate Committee on Rules regarding Senate Bill 2036, I have decided to proceed in an abundance of caution,” Haridopolos, R-Merritt Island, wrote.

Tallahassee Circuit Judge Jackie Fulford ruled lawmakers illegally included the privatization of the 18-country region of correctional operations in southern Florida in the budget instead of in a stand-alone bill. The privatization measure would take care of that problem, Rules Chairman John Thrasher said.

Haridopolos insists that although the prison outsourcing never was included in a bill, it was debated throughout the session at various committees and includes a timeline of the discussions in his memo.

“With that in mind, I believe that this additional committee reference will ensure a thoughtful debate on prison privatization, and I am hopeful that this will alleviate any concerns my fellow Senators may have,” he wrote.

Rick Perry’s departure from the GOP presidential race is almost certain to help Newt Gingrich in the Sunshine State’s upcoming primary as many of Perry’s conservative supporters – including the next Florida Senate president – defect to the former Speaker of the House.

But how much that matters depends on how well Gingrich, distrusted by many tea party activists, performs in South Carolina this weekend, Republican legislative leaders say.

Senate President-Designate Don Gaetz, a Perry backer, said he’s leaning towards Gingrich, not because the Texas governor has endorsed his former opponent, but because he, like many others, believes Gingrich would handily outshine President Obama in debates.

“I’ve respected Newt Gingrich for years,” said Gaetz, R-Niceville. Gaetz said he’s read Gingrich’s books and met with the historian on several occasions, “more than just casually.”

But, he said, “I’m happy with either Romney or Gingrich but I’m leaning toward Gingrich,” although “I can support Romney and support him with enthusiasm.”

Gingrich’s performance in South Carolina will influence how relevant Florida will be in determining the Republican candidate, some political insiders, including Gaetz, say.

The outcome of Florida’s winner-take-all-delegates primary could whittle the race down to contest between Romney and Gingrich or crown Romney as the all-but-inevitable nominee.

“It’s important for Florida to be relevant. So for parochial reasons, I hope that the contest goes on through the end of January at least because I want Florida to be important in selecting the Republican nominee,” Gaetz said. “So Gingrich would have to do well in South Carolina to keep hope alive among those who are unsatisfied with Romney.”

Perry dropping out of the race may have little impact on Florida voters, said Sen. John Thrasher, a former chairman of the Republican Party of Florida and Mitt Romney supporter.

“I don’t think it makes a lot of difference. I think Newt’s where he is. I think Gov. Romney’s where he is. Most people still believe Gov. Romney’s the best choice, particularly in Florida. He’s got an incredible organization. He’s got a lot of troops on the ground all over the state. I think he’s got the resources to really put forth his message by Jan. 31,” Thrasher, R-St. Augustine, said.

Perry made the right decision, Gaetz said.

“There comes a point when you look around and you realize that it’s hopeless. And I think that Gov. Perry has gotten to that point,” he said.

Senate President Mike Haridopolos has fast-tracked two privatization bills, referring them to a single committee before they head to the floor for a full vote.

Haridopolos sent the bills to the Rules Committee that yesterday agreed to allow the measures to get a full vetting.

One of the measures (SB 2038) resurrects a prison privatization plan shot down by a Tallahassee judge last year because of the manner in which lawmakers ordered the outsourcing of the 18-county region of southern Florida’s corrections operations.

The other proposal (SB 2036) deals with Tallahassee Circuit Judge Jackie Fulford’s ruling in the prison privatization case. Under that bill, lawmakers would be able to privatize any state functions by including the outsourcing in the budget state and without having public input until after the deals are done.

Although the privatization effort was not heard in any committees last year, the budget committee debated the proposal after it appeared one of the spending bills, Thrasher pointed out. He said he’s scheduled his next meeting, when the bills will be heard, to run for nearly four hours.

“It will get a full hearing,” Thrasher, R-St. Augustine, said. “We will take those bills up first and we will take whatever time is necessary.”

Lawmakers have not, however, before taken time to debate the measure giving them the ability to include privatization directly in the budget.

“Because we hadn’t had the court decision. Now we’ve got the court decision,” Thrasher said.

A sweeping gambling bill that would allow up to three casinos in Florida passed its first hurdle late Monday with a 7-3 vote in the Senate Regulated Industries Committee.

The measure (SB 710) would allow voters in any county to sign off on the “destination resorts” and allow pari-mutuels in to have whatever games the casinos offer, including blackjack and baccarat – if state regulators grant a casino permit in the county. And it would bar any new dog or horse tracks or jai-alai frontons from opening anywhere in the state.

Sen. Ellyn Bogdanoff, the bill’s sponsor, acknowledged that the future of her proposal – dealing with everything from a new gambling commission to the casinos to Internet cafes – is anything but certain.

“Yeah, this is a big lift and there’s a lot of stuff in here. Call it what you want. Call it an expansion. Call it a reform. Call it a redirection…My hope is that we would stop the proliferation of gaming through clever lawyering or loopholes,” Bogdanoff, R-Fort Lauderdale, said before the vote.

Senate President Mike Haridopolos appeared to have fast-tracked the bill – it received its first committee vote the day before the legislative session opened – and said he wants an early floor vote on it. But that may not happen, said Sen. John Thrasher, chairman of the Rules and Calendar Committee, the bill’s final stop before it goes to the full chamber. First, it heads to the Senate Budget committee.

But the House has yet to hold a single hearing on its version, Thrasher pointed out.

“They have not had the first peep over there in terms of listening to the arguments about this bill,” Thrasher, R-St. Augustine, said. “I’ve got a feeling that…they’re going to have to show some movement in the House before we take it any further.”

Lawmakers approved a $69.7 billion spending plan and quietly ended the 2011 legislative session at 3:35 a.m. without any pomp and circumstance.

Instead, the 60-day session ended with Senate President Mike Haridopolos and House Speaker Dean Cannon publicly rebuking each other over with Haridopolos accusing Cannon of playing “silly games” and Cannon claiming to “take the high road” by rejecting a controversial Senate tax break.

Haridopolos, R-Merritt Island, called his members back after 2 a.m. this morning to take up a tax-break proposal that includes a three-day sales tax holiday for back-to-school shoppers after the House stripped out a tax break for at least one greyhound dog track in Senate Rules Chairman John Thrasher’s district.

Haridopolos apologized for asking them to return about an hour after he sent them home and instructed them the session would reconvene at 10 a.m.

Shortly before Haridopolos recalled the Senate, Cannon gaveled down the House without passing two claims bills that were Haridopolos priorities. Eric Brody was set to get $12 million from the Broward County Sheriff’s Office for an accident more than a decade ago that left him severely disabled, and William Dillon was slated to get less than $1 million after being wrongfully imprisoned for nearly three decades for a crime he didn’t commit.

“They should have been served today by this legislature. Politics got in the way today and I’m embarrassed,” he said.
Gov. Rick Scott left the building around midnight as the legislative session devolved into chaos. Scott had been scheduled to participate in the ceremonial white hanky drop but instead went home to bed because he had a busy schedule this weekend, his spokesman Brian Burgess said.

The House approved the budget shortly before 2 a.m., about two-and-a-half hours after the Senate and following some very hard feelings between the two chambers.

The House then took up the disputed tax break bill (CS/SB 7203).

But the House remained angered by the Senate’s killing a pair of professional deregulation bills earlier in the night — with House Speaker Dean Cannon, R-Winter Park, saying that move broke an agreement between the two chambers.

“In light of the Senate’s inability to meet that obligation, I’ve decided that our chamber would take the high road…and send it all to the Senate tonight, and leave no ambiguity,” Cannon said.

The House took up the tax-break bill, voted to remove the Jacksonville track provision, repackaged the measure as HB 143 and sent it back to the Senate. With the budget behind them, and the tax-break package structured to their liking, Cannon and House members adjourned at 2:07 a.m., Saturday.

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An Arizona-style immigration law is off the table in Florida, and any immigration overhaul is likely doomed, GOP lawmakers said yesterday after the Senate killed a watered-down E-Verify amendment.

During debate on the amendment, its sponsor John Thrasher argued that the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks may have been avoided had the federal verification system been in effect at the time.

“I want to remind everyone in here that 10 of the 19 terrorists who attacked our country, directed by Osama bin Laden in doing that, lived in the state of Florida. I wish we would have had the E-Verify system … we might have saved the lives of 3,000 Americans,” Thrasher, a St. Petersburg Republican and one-time House speaker who recently served as the Republican Party of Florida chairman.

Thrasher prefaced his comments by asserting he wasn’t being “overly dramatic” but was he?

The St. Petersburg Times PolitiFact gave Thrasher’s assertion a “Pants on Fire” rating:

“Hijackers did live in Florida and obtain Florida driver’s licenses. But in order to potentially be flagged by the E-Verify system, they would have had to work in the state. There is no record that any of them ever tried to get jobs here. And as such, E-Verify — had it been used by Florida employers as Thrasher wanted — wouldn’t have found them or stopped their plotting. We rate this claim Pants on Fire!”

The Florida Senate came closer to finalizing its immigration reforms after killing an amendment proposed by powerful Senate Rules Chairman John Thrasher.

Thrasher’s plan would have fined businesses that hired workers in the country illegally but would not have required business owners to use the federal E-Verify system.

Trying to convince senators to support his amendment, Thrasher implied that the 9/11 terrorist attacks might not have happened nearly a decade ago if Florida had the E-Verify system in place.

“I will remind everybody in here that 10 of the 19 terrorists that attacked our country that were directed by Osama bin Laden to do that lived in the state of Florida. I wish we had had an E-Verify system because some of them were working. We might have saved the lives of 3,000 Americans,” said Thrasher, R-St. Augustine, a former House Speaker who also recently served as chairman of the Republican Party of Florida.

The Senate killed the amendment by a 23-16 vote after more than an hour, including a heartfelt speech by JD Alexander, the Senate’s immigration reform architect.

Alexander, a citrus farmer who also raises blueberries, crafted a measure that, among other things, would essentially exempt agricultural businesses like his from having to verify workers’ immigration status.

But he objected to Thrasher’s amendment after saying he could not find enough legal immigrants – or other workers – to pick his blueberry crop during the season that ended this week and expressing frustration that the federal government’s inaction on the issue was forcing state lawmakers to acting because of political pressure from tea party activists.

“Quit all these one-sided political arguments,” said Alexander, who is term-limited out of office next year. “I don’t believe it’s the right thing to do. The federal government should stop it tomorrow without a doubt. But we’re not talking about that…This is not our problem and we’re having this problem put on our shoulders and I resent it. And I resent it because we’re asked to choose between hard-working people and somebody’s uninformed knowledge” of illegal immigration.

Dog tracks would no longer have to run dog races but could continue to operate the more lucrative card rooms under a measure passed by the Senate and awaiting secondary House approval.

Sen. Maria Sachs, the bill sponsor, said the bill is needed so the state can stop bailing out the dying greyhound racing industry while keeping the tracks alive.

Palm Beach Kennel Club owners support the measure in part because fewer races will make their dog races more valuable when broadcast over simulcast at other tracks. Only three of the state’s existing 16 dog tracks, including PBKC, are expected to continue to keep running the dogs if the bill becomes law.

The measure would also benefit PBKC because it is one of the seven tracks that now purchase tax credits from other tracks who are eligible for the tax breaks but don’t generate enough revenue to use them.

Critics of the measure include the dog owners and breeders, who claim that doing away with the races will put thousands of workers out of a job.

But Sachs, D-Delray Beach, said the state would no longer have to subsidize “a business model that’s no longer profitable” through tax breaks as public interest in the races – and revenues from them – decline. Revenues generated for the state from dog racing have plummeted by more than half over the past 10 years, from about $40 million in 2000 to about $5.2 million last year.

The measure created a stir on the floor as some Republicans tried to amend the bill to accommodate the state’s thoroghbred industry.
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The state of Florida is paying too much for prescription drugs because, in part, its contract with a middleman bars discussion about potential cost-savings, a consultant told the Senate Budget Committee this afternoon.

In addition, the state – the largest employer in Florida – is paying way more than other businesses for prescription drug dispensation, consultant Jeffrey Lewis, who analyzed state agencies’ spending on prescription drugs, found.

The state pays a $4.28 dispensing fee to pharmacies for each prescription filled, more than three times more than the $1.25 market rate.

But the state’s getting ripped off even worse for mail-order drugs, Lewis said. Florida pays a dispensing fee of $4.22 for each prescription filled through home delivery while most other companies pay nothing.

“Paying for mail-order is unheard of,” Lewis said.

Senate budget chief J.D. Alexander requested the analysis of prescription drug spending after running into trouble getting information from state agencies about what they were spending on drugs.

Just before Lewis’ presentation, Alexander, R-Lake Wales, and his committee learned that the state’s budget hole is continuing to grow and is now at an estimated $3.62 billion.

Lewis, the president of the Heinz Family Philanthropies, estimated the state could save about $230 million in two years by revamping how it buys prescription drugs. Florida should renegotiate the contract with Minnesota Multi-State Contracting Alliance and its distributor Cardinal Health, Lewis recommended, among other things.

“This is incredible,” said Sen. John Thrasher, R-St. Augustine.

“Hopefully somebody from the governor’s office is in here. If they’re not I would recommend somebody hand carry this down to the first floor right now,” Thrasher said, waving a copy of the presentation.

Thrasher asked if Gov. Rick Scott, whose office is now scrutinizing all state contracts worth more than $1 million, could issue an executive order to change any of the state’s prescription drug purchasing processes.

“Our governor obviously likes those kinds of things,” Thrasher said.

The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee didn’t waste any time slamming Senate President Mike Haridopolos, a GOP U.S. Senate hopeful who’s just taken over the helm of his chamber.

Before Haridopolos has even officially announced his intention to run against incumbent U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson in two years (if, as expected, Nelson seeks reelection), the DSCC lashed out at the Merritt Island Republican for violating the state’s ethics laws.

“Mike Haridopolos’ arrogance reached a new level when he kicked off a likely Senate bid by pleading guilty to breaking Florida ethics laws,” DSCC National Press Secretary Deirdre Murphy said in a statement today. “If Haridopolos’ miserable first week as a likely candidate is any harbinger for the future, he’s got a lot of explaining to do to Florida voters.”

Haridopolos, a college teacher whose courses include government, and the state Commission on Ethics reached an agreement about his failure to accurately fill out his financial disclosure forms for five years.

His punishment? Nothing, thus far.

Haridopolos’ own chamber and fellow senators will have to decide whether their leader must face a fine or other penalty for failing to identify the clients that paid him as a political consultant.

Sen. John Thrasher, who is also the head of the state GOP, is chairman of the Rules Committee that will make the final decision on whether to mete out any fiscal or other reprimand. Haridopolos appointed Thrasher, R-St. Augustine, to head the committee before he entered the stipulation agreement with the ethics commission.

Read the joint agreement here.

More than 100 members of the tea party movement, many of them county leaders, showed up on the day of the special session to learn more about the state legislature and to remind lawmakers that they’re going to hold them paying close attention to how they vote on tax and spending issues.

“We’re here to send a message to the Florida Legislature that we’re serious about holding them accountable,” said Henry Kelley, leader of the Fort Walton Beach Tea Party and organizer of Tuesday’s event.

Several powerful GOP leaders, including Senate President Mike Haridopolos and Sen. John Thrasher, who’s also the head of the Republican Party of Florida, dropped by the group’s meeting in a Senate committee room.

Haridopolos, who pledged Tuesday that lawmakers “will not raise taxes a single dime,” said he had a good talk with the group.

“That’s the kind of energy we need. As a person who strongly believes in the Constitution, I’m glad that they’re leading the fight to make sure we have limited government,” Haridopolos, R-Merritt Island, said later.

“We want to have a two-way dialogue with them throughout the year. We want to hear directly from people because sometimes in Tallahassee you get too isolated,” he said.

UPDATE: Gov. Charlie Crist had this to say about the RPOF audit released today:
“I went to Disney World with my wife and my two stepdaughters and we paid for it ourselves.”
An audit of state GOP spending revealed that former party chief Jim Greer spent tens of thousands of dollars on lavish hotel rooms and trips unrelated to official business, including more than $5,000 on costs associated with his son’s baptism.

The audit, released to the public today, also found that the Republican Party of Florida picked up a $13,435.59 tab for a personal trip to Disney World Greer and his family took with Gov. Charlie Crist and his wife Carole and possibly her two daughters in June 2009.

Crist, who left the Republican Party this spring to run as an independent in the U.S. Senate race, said earlier this week he had no idea about possible misspending on travel after Thrasher threatened to take Crist to court to recoup the money if Crist didn’t repay it.

But the audit showed that Crist and his wife and the Greers spent more than $13,000 on a personal holiday at the Walt Disney World Contemporary Hotel.

Greer also charged $10,992.17 on his RPOF-issued American Express card for three personal vacations to Fisher Island, including one in which Crist participated, the audit found. Carole Crist owns a home on the exclusive enclave.

Crist’s campaign responded with a statement demanding that his opponent, former House Speaker Marco Rubio, release all of his credit card statements prior to the dates covered in the audit.

“Republican party bosses engaging in smear tactics to cover-up the wrongdoing of their own nominee? Shocking. Now that the bosses have ended their partisan charade, they must immediately release all of Marco Rubio’s credit card records dating back to when he was Speaker-Designate to determine the extent to which he charged the party for personal expenses like family reunions and real estate payments,” Crist campaign spokesman Danny Kanner said in an e-mail.
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Gov. Charlie Crist says he’s in the dark about state GOP leaders’ demands that he pay them back for travel expenses unassociated with party business.

“It’s the typical political season stuff that we’re going to see. I think it’s sad and just indicates how partisanship gets in the way,” Crist told reporters this morning after a memorial service for missing children at the Capitol.

Republican Party of Florida Chairman John Thrasher threatened Friday to sue Crist and Jim Greer, Crist’s hand-picked party chairman, to get reimbursed for hundreds of thousands of dollars in travel costs. The expenses in question were charged to Greer and former party executive director Delmar Johnson. Crist did not have one of the party American Express cards in question.

Greer resigned in January and was charged in June with fraud, theft and money laundering for his alleged misuse of party money. Greer has pleaded not guilty. Greer maintains he is innocent.

Thrasher and other GOP leaders huddled for hours over an internal audit Friday at their annual meeting in Orlando but refused to release the audit to the public. Thrasher, a former House Speaker who is also a state
senator from St. Augustine, said he may take Crist, Greer and Johnson to court to get the money back.

“I don’t even know what they’re talking about. As you know, they haven’t been transparent. They haven’t
released any of the report. So it’s hard to even know what they’re talking about,” Crist said.

Crist, who abandoned the GOP this spring to run as an independent in the U.S. Senate race against Republican Marco Rubio and U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek, a Democrat, said Thrasher has not asked him for reimbursement of the alleged charges.

“We don’t even know what they are. Neither do you. They won’t show us the report,” Crist said.

The Republican Party of Florida’s statement that it is considering legal action to recover “inappropriate expenses” by Gov. Charlie Crist, former Chairman Jim Greer and former executive director Delmar Johnson was blasted by spokesmen for all three today.

The party says it is considering litigation based on an audit that it wouldn’t release. Click here to read the whole story.

Crist campaign spokesman Danny Kanner accused the GOP of “political games” to undermine Crist, who left the GOP in April to pursue a no-party Senate bid.

Greer attorney Damon Chase accused the party of “blatant political grandstanding….They’re going after the three guys they don’t like.”

Johnson’s attorney, Bob Leventhal, said: “It’s quite disingenuous of them to make comments and not release the report…Mr. Johnson would love for them to release the audit.”

LAKE BUENA VISTA — Republican Party of Florida leaders today said they might pursue legal action to recover hundreds of thousands of dollars in “inappropriate expenses” by Gov. Charlie Crist, his hand-picked former GOP chairman and a former top party aide between 2007 and 2009.

State GOP Chairman John Thrasher made the announcement after he and the party’s executive board spent three hours reviewing an audit of party finances while Jim Greer was chairman.

Crist’s campaign spokesman accused the GOP of playing “the same old political games” against Crist, who left the party in April to pursue an independent Senate bid.

The expenses, largely travel-related, were put on the American Express cards of Greer and former GOP executive director Delmar Johnson, but many of them benefited Crist, Thrasher said.

Read the RPOF statement after the jump…

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UPDATE: Scott’s campaign sent out details for three “unity events” on Monday, but didn’t include details about who would be there. There is a “meeting with statesmen” in Tampa. Could those be some of the “Tallahassee insider” who were “crying in their cocktails” on Tuesday?

Here’s the schedule: 9:30 a.m., meeting with statesmen, University Club of Tampa; 2 p.m., Tampa unity event, Tampa Jet Center (tentative); 6 p.m., Orlando unity event, Marks Street Senior Center.

Sounds like the details are still being hammered out, but watch for Republican gubernatorial nominee Rick Scott to announce a multi-day tour of the state early next week with the incoming GOP Senate and House bosses, Mike Haridopolos and Dean Cannon.

(You might remember Cannon and Haridopolos from this statewide fly-around a couple weeks ago. At this point, the tour will be missing Bill McCollum, sort of an important component for the whole unity thing…)

Scott initiated a conference call with the two former McCollum men on Thursday after he had a sit-down with Republican Party of Florida Chairman John Thrasher and a phone conversation with Republican Governor’s Association Chairman Haley Barbour, who diverted his Mississippi-to-Orlando flight on Tuesday after results showed Scott pulling off the upset.

We also hear a number of lobbyists and other high-ranking Republicans showed up at Scott’s Fort Lauderdale headquarters on Wednesday and Thursday hoping to play the broker in Scott’s group-hug with the GOP establishment.

Scott didn’t go for it, instead relying on his background as a mergers-and-acquisitions attorney and venture capitalist to negotiate his own path through the next two months.

That’s how Florida Republican Party Chairman John Thrasher described Rick Scott’s gubernatorial campaign on Sunday in letter to “fellow Republicans.”

But heck, that’s just water under the bridge now that Scott is the party’s nominee. Right?

“We’re going to ask for his help raising money for grass-roots support and we’re going to find out where we can help him,” Thrasher said. “Everything is going to be fine.”

Thrasher was on his way today to Fort Lauderdale, home of Scott’s campaign headquarters. He and Scott will sit down for some meetings Thursday.

“We’re going to start putting our political plan together,” said Thrasher. “The election is behind us and we’re ready to move on. I’m optimistic about where we are.”

The Republican Governor’s Association and the Republican Party of Florida are asking Republican gubernatorial candidate Rick Scott to pull a TV ad that accuses primary rival Bill McCollum of helping former state party chairman Jim Greer “hide financial irregularities.”

There is no evidence linking McCollum to the corruption charges that landed Greer in jail earlier this summer. But McCollum did play a role in the secret negotiations to force Greer’s resignation and publicly said afterward that the party should not disclose the internal financial records in question.

McCollum now says he will support releasing the forensic audit of the party.

Here are the statements from state Sen. John Thrasher, the state party chairman, and Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, the RGA chairman.

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Former Gov. Jeb Bush returned to the Republican dinner circuit Friday night, keynoting a Pasco County GOP dinner and making his first joint campaign appearance with Senate hopeful Marco Rubio.

Bush clearly had star power among the 600 or more partisans who attended. One audience member drew applause when he shouted that Bush, the son and brother of former presidents, should make his own run for the White House.

“Elvis was in the house tonight, wasn’t he?” Republican Party of Florida Chairman John Thrasher said afterward.

Here’s a story about the event.

And some expanded Bush excerpts are after the jump….

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