Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell on Friday bestowed the honor of giving the first radio address after the elections to incoming Tea Party-backed freshman Marco Rubio of Florida. "Senator-elect Rubio embodies an exciting and optimistic message about the future of America," McConnell said in an e-mailed statement, touting the rock star Florida Senator-elect's "principled conservatism."

Many have questioned whether or not the leader could manage the strong-minded, independent conservatives coming to Washington, and this is likely to be seen as an olive branch by the Kentucky senator particularly to those who were not, like Rubio, the first choice of the establishment. McConnell and his GOP colleagues in leadership first threw their support behind then-GOP Gov. Charlie Crist. When Crist lost the primary, the entire GOP party got behind Rubio...

A Charlie Crist victory in the Florida Senate contest would mean an additional vote with Democrats, a senior aide to former President Bill Clinton said Friday, noting that Clinton got an assurance from the Republican-turned-independent that he would caucus with Democrats if he won.

The, aide, speaking after Democratic Rep. Kendrick Meek insisted Friday that Clinton never asked him to drop out of the three-way race, said that Crist called Clinton aide Doug Band and Band intervened between Crist and Meek about Meek's possible departure from the three-way contest.

Crist has denied that he has agreed to caucus with Democrats, saying at a debate earlier this week that he would speak to both parties before deciding with whom to vote. The aide said he understands why Crist would make that denial...

A Florida judge has rejected a lawsuit that could have led to up to $7.5 million in refunds for thousands of contributors to the Senate campaign of Republican-turned-independent Gov. Charlie Crist.

Circuit Judge Jack Schoonover in Naples refused Thursday to certify a lawsuit brought by two GOP donors as a class action covering at least 2,000 similar contributors, the Associated Press reported. The decision means donors will have to sue individually for refunds.

The two Crist contributors claimed he broke a contract when he bolted the GOP in April to run for the Senate without party affiliation...

Tallahassee, FL (LifeNews.com) -- Florida voters backed pro-life candidates for Senate and governor on Tuesday night and set up battles pitting pro-life and pro-abortion candidates against each other. In the gubernatorial race, pro-life Republican candidate Rick Scott defeated Attorney General Bill McCollum.

And in the Senate race, pro-life former House Speaker Marco Rubio is now preparing to take on pro-abortion Gov. Charlie Crist and pro-abortion Rep. Kendrick Meek.

Scott took 47 percent of the vote to 43 for McCollum in the Republican gubernatorial primary...

In a primary day upset, political newcomer Rick Scott narrowly defeated state Attorney General Bill McCollum for the Republican nomination in the Florida gubernatorial race.

Recent polls had suggested McCollum was pulling ahead in the contest. The attorney general was making a name for himself on the national stage and had the backing of heavyweight Republicans like former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush who are looking to keep the governor's office in GOP hands as incumbent Charlie Crist heads out on an independent bid for U.S. Senate.

But low turnout on Tuesday, among other factors, gave outsized importance to Scott's efforts to pull in support through early voting and absentee ballots. With 99 percent of precincts reporting, Scott led McCollum 46 percent to 43 percent...

MIAMI --Florida Lt. Gov. Jeff Kottcamp, who ran on the same gubernatorial ticket in 2006 with then-Republican Charlie Crist, will endorse Republican Marco Rubio in the U.S. Senate race now that Crist has bailed from the party, Fox News has learned.

Republican candidate for Florida attorney general, Kottcamp will make his announcement in an e-mail release on Wednesday, according to senior aide David Bishop.

Kottcamp has not spoken to Crist since he left the Republican Party in April to run as an independent in the Senate race after polls showed Rubio with a wide lead in the GOP primary. Crist and Kottcamp won the ticket in November 2006 and took the oath of office in January 2007 as the 44th governor and 17th lieutenant governor, respectively...

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. | A Republican no longer, Gov. Charlie Crist just can't seem to get enough of President Obama or Democratic priorities.

The independent is behaving more like the independent he is in Florida's wildly unpredictable Senate race, standing with the president, courting organized labor and vetoing legislation to ban embryonic-stem-cell research at the state's universities.

Conservatives he once wooed say it's the mark of a political chameleon - or worse. The state GOP's news release says, "You can't spell Charlie without 'lie.' " But Mr. Crist's path to statewide election goes in a different direction now, far, far away from the "tea party" activists who drove him from the GOP...

(CNSNews.com) – Florida Gov. Charlie Crist (I) vetoed a bill that contained provisions that could have potentially shielded Floridians from some of the most controversial aspects of the health care overhaul enacted in March. The provisions prohibited government funds from going to health insurance plans that cover abortions and stated that it was the policy of the state of Florida that government could not compel people to buy health insurance.

Originally a bill to reform the inspections process at Florida nursing homes, the bill quickly became a cause celebre for Florida conservatives after state senators added several amendments to the bill.

Among those amendments were two simple additions that may have prevented Florida from meaningful participation in the Obama administration’s new national health care scheme...

(CNSNews.com) - Florida Gov. Charlie Crist has vetoed a bill passed by the Florida legislature that would have required a woman to undergo an ultrasound before undergoing an abortion, saying such measures “do not change hearts.”

“There are many medical or fiscal barriers that could be placed upon a woman in order to prevent her from following through on her constitutionally protected decision to end pregnancy,” said Crist in a letter to the Florida secretary of state explaining his veto. “However, such measures do not change hearts, which is the only true and effective way to ensure that a new life coming into the world is loved, cherished, and receives that care that is deserved.”

Crist also said that requiring an ultrasound before a baby is aborted placed an “inappropriate burden” on the woman seeking the abortion...

A conservative political scientist and historian doesn't think it is likely that the decision by Charlie Crist to run as an independent for the Florida Senate seat could split the conservative vote enough to give the seat to Democrats.

In 2008 incumbent Minnesota Senator Norm Coleman was facing an election challenge from Democrat Al Franken. But the presence of a third-party candidate made the election close enough for Franken to mount a challenge and eventually be declared the winner. And some analysts argue that Ross Perot's independent candidacy in 1992 likely cost President George H.W. Bush votes in his re-election bid against challenger Bill Clinton.

Now Florida's Republican Governor Charlie Crist, who has been trailing Marco Rubio in GOP Senate race polls, has announced that he is going to run as an independent as well...