Reps. Dennis Baxley of Ocala, Trey Traviesa of Tampa and Mitch Needelman of Melbourne arrived at the Division of Elections with Gallagher's papers and qualifying fee check for $7,743.60. They also talked up their candidate's chances.
"Tom Gallagher is the only conservative candidate out there on pro-family, pro-life issues that I've been able to identify," said Baxley, who played a central role in the Legislature's unsuccessful efforts to keep severely brain-damaged Terri Schiavo alive in 2005.
The three Republicans spoke of Gallagher's leadership qualities and similarities to outgoing Republican Gov. Jeb Bush. With Gallagher trailing in the race both in polls and fund-raising to Attorney General Charlie Crist, they also were quick to downplay the significance of such wobbly numbers.
"Voters are still undecided," Needelman said. "The next month is when you're going to see the changes occur. We're going to close the gap."
Travieso also said voters aren't interested in who's leading, but rather which candidate has the best policies for Florida.
"They're not talking about polls, they're not talking about leads," Travieso said of voters. "They're talking about issues."
Gallagher was campaigning in the Tampa area on Tuesday, where he picked up the endorsement of Florida Republican National Committeeman Paul Senft of Polk County.