In an interview with Newsmax, Jeb Bush says that Crist had “abandoned” the Republican Party and was “not welcome” to return. If Crist does ever try to run again as a Republican, Bush predicts, “He’ll get crushed.”

Andrew’s Capital Grill and Bar today opened up the semi-annual ritual of naming menu items after Florida political icons to the restaurant’s customers, who can recommend names via the Web. Located in the shadow of the Florida Capitol, Andrew’s Capital Grill and Bar is a Tallahassee fixture and favorite lunch spot of Florida political figures.  [...]

Two of my favorite people in the restaurant biz, Bill Georgiou and James Laughorn are opening the The Burg Bar and Grill at 1752 Central Avenue, where The Cider House was previously located.  Bill and James plan on opening their new spot on January 3.

A new Public Policy Polling survey finds that just 19% of Americans have a favorable opinion of New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg while 38% see him unfavorably. In a hypothetical three way contest with President Obama and Mitt Romney, Bloomberg registers at only 11% with Obama getting 44% and Romney 38%.

This cycle, a whopping 78 of the Democratic-held House seats up for grabs were in districts that had either been won by Sen. John McCain(R-Ariz.) in 2008 or been picked up by Democrats in 2006 or 2008. Democratic Rep. Jerry McNerney‘s narrow victory declared last weekover Republican David Harmer in California brought the last of those races to its conclusion. [...]

From ABC Action News: It’s an identity thief’s dream come true. Someone discarded 1,000 to 2,000 voters’ petitions in a dumpster in Hillsborough County. Wesley Velasco made the discovery at the business where he works at 5423 59th St. “Basically, what I noticed was a guy dumping some things in our back dumpster. Nothing out [...]

Editor’s note: Saint Petersblog is excited to welcome Daniel Tilson, award-winning blogger, as a new, regular contributor to the blog.  You can follow Dan on Twitter at @danieltilson.  Today, Dan takes a closer look at the 2-day retreat for Republican freshmen legislators. The Republican Party of Florida hit the ground running coming out of Thanksgiving [...]

If you are interested in following on Twitter Tampa’s 2011 municipal candidates, I’ve put together a list here.

With a second anonymous mailer surfacing in the race for RPOF Chair, at least one prominent local Republican is speaking out against the attacks. Pinellas state committeeman Nancy Riley sent the following e-mail to her fellow members of the state executive committee: Fellow RPOF members, I received another TOTALLY unacceptable disgusting piece in the mail [...]