Free Republic

When House Speaker Allan Bense walked into the fourth-floor rotunda of the Capitol shortly after midnight Friday, he was greeted by applause from a crowd of lobbyists and lawmakers sporting red, white and blue stickers that read ``Allan Bense. U.S. Senate.'' The message from Gov. Jeb Bush down to the rank-and-file Republicans in the Legislature and those who make up a large share of Tallahassee's lobbying corps is that they want Bense to challenge U.S. Rep. Katherine Harris for U.S. Senate.

The White House added a new wrinkle to Florida's U.S. Senate race Wednesday by pointedly praising state House Speaker Allan Bense. In an interview with the St. Petersburg Times, Sara Taylor, President Bush's political director, said Bense "would be great in any office he ran for." Taylor said she knows Bense from her dealings with Florida Republican leaders. "I think the world of the guy," she said. "I think he's a class act, he's a very strong leader. He's somebody who is a consensus builder." Taylor's comments were a subtle but unmistakable signal that the White House is getting more...

Republican party activists are increasingly mulling that question as evidence builds that state House Speaker Allan Bense could soon jump into the U.S. Senate race. In the latest signal that Harris is losing her already tenuous support from party leaders, Gov. Jeb Bush on Wednesday touted Bense's candidacy. "I know a lot of people are encouraging him to run. He's a great leader and an extraordinary person, and he would be a great United States senator but that's up to him," Bush told reporters when asked if Bense should jump in.

A national Republican polling firm did a survey in Florida last week testing how state House Speaker Allan Bense would fare against Bill Nelson in the U.S. Senate race. The outcome of the poll isn't known publicly. The fact that it was done suggests Bense may be considering entering the race, or that an interest group with money to spend wants to find out how he would do.

Frustrated with the White House and a key Republican, supporters of Rep. Katherine Harris' (R-Fla.) 2006 Senate campaign lashed out at the administration yesterday for seeking to convince another prominent GOP official to enter the race. "It's unimaginable that the White House folks and the National Republican Senatorial Committee would be so disloyal to Katherine Harris, especially after all she has done for the Bush family and the Republican Party," a Florida political operative who supports Harris said. "It's unconscionable and a stab in the back." Harris backers are irritated that State House Speaker Allan Bense met with White House...

Frustrated with the White House and a key Republican, supporters of Rep. Katherine Harris' (R-Fla.) 2006 Senate campaign lashed out at the administration yesterday for seeking to convince another prominent GOP official to enter the race. "It's unimaginable that the White House folks and the National Republican Senatorial Committee would be so disloyal to Katherine Harris, especially after all she has done for the Bush family and the Republican Party," a Florida political operative who supports Harris said. "It's unconscionable and a stab in the back." Harris backers are irritated that State House Speaker Allan Bense met with White House...

TALLAHASSEE — Expressing concerns about a U.S. Supreme Court decision that broadened governments' rights to use eminent domain proceedings to take private property, Florida House Speaker Allan Bense on Friday created a committee to develop guidelines about when and where the proceedings can be used in the state. Bense, who has described himself as a libertarian in opposing government intrusion on personal lives, said Floridians should be wary of eminent domain proceedings used to benefit profit-driven private entities. "Private property rights are a fundamental principle upon which our nation was founded, and government should only be allowed to deny a...