“This is unwelcome news for Mitt Romney: Florida Gov. Rick Scott expects a high-profile speaking slot at the Republican National Convention.

“I would hope so,” he told a newspaper editorial board this week when asked if he anticipates giving a prime-time speech in Tampa.

Nothing says “Elect Mitt Romney!” like an unpopular multimillionaire awkwardly making the case on national TV.”

Read the full Times story

Rep. Mike Weinstein, R-Jacksonville, is also in the GOP primary, as is Wyman Duggan, a Jacksonville lawyer with the  Rogers Towers firm.

“His real world business experience is just what we need in the Legislature,” Proctor said in a statement.  “He understands the policies needed to free up small businesses to create jobs and lead our economic recovery.”

http://www.daveweldonforsenate.com/

On the site, Weldon says “someone has to provide a conservative solution to the problems the administration has created and the Senate has endorsed. I’ll work to change Washington, not be changed by Washington. That was why I left my medical practice in 1994 and ran and was elected to the U.S. House where I served 14 years before returning to medicine.”

Already in the GOP primary are U.S. Rep. Connie Mack,  George LeMieux, and Mike McCalister with the winner to take on incumbent U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, the Democrat.

Weldon’s also got a video ready - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fwOyOgwHUFo&feature=player_embedded

The Tampa Tribune reports on the 4-0 council vote.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0512/76474.html

Here’s the New York Times report on his remarks

Here’s a roundup of coverage of Romney in Jacksonville yesterday, starting with the straight C-Span item, which includes video from WTEV in Jax,  coverage from the Times-Union, which also includes video from First Coast News.

Also:

The Hill

AP

“Connie Mack is a friend, a strong conservative and the type of principled leader we need in Washington to restore fiscal responsibility. By electing Connie Mack, the people of Florida will be sending a clear message to Senator Nelson and President Obama that their failed policies have not worked to change the borrow and spend ways of Washington.”

In a way, Romney is simply returning the favor for when Mack endorsed the front-runner in the Florida primary. Romney got a badly needed win that solidified his standing when former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich was surging.

But it also highlights that some of the Republican establishment thinks Mack is the best bet to beat Democratic incumbent Sen. Bill Nelson, who is a close second on the list of GOP priorities in Florida this year. It might also be an effort to quiet repeated musings from some Florida Republicans who have mulled or are mulling getting into the race.

Obama’s Super PAC, Priorities USA Action, was the first to hit the air with an ad that the group says is going up in Florida and several other swing states. The commercial tells the story of the same steel plant that the Obama campaign focused on in a two-minute ad about former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney’s business record. (That ad, near as anyone can tell, ran for a day.)

Crossroads GPS, a Super PAC that backs Republicans, responded in a way with an ad that will also run in Florida and several other swing states, according to the group. This one focuses on Obama’s record — failing, in Crossroads GPS’s telling, to deliver on his major promises.

The group says it’s spending $1.5 million on Florida over the next two weeks. That’s a good deal more than what some observers say the Obama Super PAC has spent so far.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0512/76351.html