Former Mayor Scott Maddox quit the race for governor Friday and endorsed U.S. Rep. Jim Davis, insisting the financial chaos that he left in the Florida Democratic Party had not crippled his campaign.

Maddox said the two major Republican candidates are collecting about $4 for every dollar raised by all three Democrats who were in race to succeed Republican Gov. Jeb Bush. In a determinedly upbeat conference call with Davis, D-Tampa, retired U.S. Sen. Bob Graham and U.S. Rep. Bob Wexler of Boca Raton, Maddox told reporters his campaign had been going well but that the party can't afford a tough primary fight.

He said polls indicate Davis has a better chance of winning the governor's office than state Sen. Rod Smith, D-Alachua. Smith said he's staying in the race against Davis.

Tension between the Maddox and Smith campaigns has been noticeable and Maddox urged ''all Democrats'' to follow his lead.

But Smith rejected the call. His campaign spokesman suggested that Davis is prematurely calling himself the front runner when the two are not far apart in fundraising and polls suggest half of Democrats have yet to pick a candidate.

Davis' supporters say his campaign will benefit from Maddox's departure with an infusion of volunteers, donors and ties to Democrat-rich South Florida. Maddox held a fundraiser in Broward just a week ago, and the Hialeah native's supporters include nearly all of the Broward County commission.

Commissioner Ilene Lieberman, one of Maddox's biggest Broward fundraisers, called his withdrawal ''high class and noble'' and said she hadn't yet decided whether to support Davis -- whose campaign began calling Maddox supporters shortly after the announcement.

Maddox's endorsement, she noted, "holds a lot of weight with me."

Maddox, who placed a strong second in a bid for the Democratic nomination for attorney general in 2002, didn't rule out a run for a Cabinet seat but said he'd first consult with his family.

Floridians for Stem Cell Research and Cures, Mr. Aaronson's group, wants to get on the ballot before legislators make it harder to get constitutional revisions approved. The group also faces a competing proposal that would ban stem-cell research. But it's not realistic to expect to gather 611,000 valid signatures by year's end. The group's support for bills to be sponsored by Sen. Ron Klein, D-Delray Beach, and Rep. Franklin Sands, D-Weston, acknowledges that. The lawmakers believe they can educate Republicans on the importance of stem-cell research in luring scientists and curing disease. They'd like nothing more than to present a bill for Gov. Bush to sign. That's more likely to happen if they convince Republicans a constitutional amendment is a legitimate fallback.

The flurry of complaints to the newspaper and regulatory agencies is an indication of how much a lighting rod Henderson remains, two years after leaving public office to become a legislative lobbyist with a fat list of state and national clients.

Just three months after Gov. Jeb Bush first appointed her to head the regulatory agency in 1999, she flew to the Kentucky Derby on a corporate jet owned by a restaurant chain her office regulated, and she was later criticized for firing four lawyers and an investigator who were probing complaints of poor workmanship by a construction company run by the head of the Florida Home Builders Association.

Shortly after that, she was sued by a terminated employee who charged she choked him and yelled at him so forcefully that she spit on him. That lawsuit was later settled for $7,500.

Bush moved Henderson to head the smaller Department of Management Services the following year. While there, she received a "letter of advice" from the grievance committee of The Florida Bar for hiring as her general counsel an attorney who was not licensed to practice law in Florida. The disciplinary committee decided Henderson didn't violate legal rules "but came real close."

Bush did not bring Henderson back after his second-term transition, when he fired all of his agency heads and asked some of them back. She had indicated she wanted a role in his second term as governor.

Henderson was not happy the Democrat questioned her.

In Tallahassee, Gov. Jeb Bush again defended efforts to reach a compromise that he believes would give Florida stronger long-term protection against drilling, though it could open some now-closed areas that are at least 125 miles off the coast. Nelson, D-Fla., Martinez and many other Florida politicians are opposed to such a deal being pursued by some House Republicans.

A campaign to expand oil and gas drilling in the eastern Gulf of Mexico gathered steam in Congress on Wednesday as the dean of Florida's delegation said the state would benefit from a deal allowing drilling in parts of the Gulf that are now off limits in exchange for a 125-mile buffer around the state.

"There's pressure now for more energy, and there are many who believe the Gulf should be fair game," said Rep. Clay Shaw, R-Fort Lauderdale. "We've been fighting them off for years, but with the price of oil going up the way it has, this makes it more and more difficult to hold on to that moratorium in the Gulf."

In 2002, when Gov. Bush was up for reelection, he was "incredibly proud" of the deal he made with his brother to prevent further oil and gas drilling off the state's fragile Gulf Coast beaches. But there are no elections this year, and the governor has bowed to pressure from the White House and the energy industry. The state's congressional delegation must resist what the governor calls a compromise but really is a cave-in.

Matt Carter and Katrina Tew were named to full terms beginning in January and running until January 2010. Isilio Arriaga was appointed to a partial term starting immediately and running through 2006.

Arriaga, 57, a Miami management and engineering consultant and former congressman in the Venezuelan legislature, was named to fill the vacancy created by the resignation of Charles Davidson. Arriaga was the first Hispanic president of the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce.

Carter, 53, a senior staff lawyer at the Florida House of Representatives, also has owned a financial-services company and worked in private practice as an attorney.

Tew, 32, has the most direct experience with the issues the PSC regulates, having worked 10 years at the commission, currently as an advisor to PSC Chairman Braulio Baez. Tew has specialized in several policy issues, including water and wastewater, energy, financing, accounting and economics.

Bush's comments drew praise Wednesday from the National Association of Manufacturers, which supports offshore drilling. Some Florida Republicans also are aligned with the governor, but most Democrats and other Republicans disagree, including Sens. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., and Mel Martinez, R-Fla.

"Gov. Bush reverses on Gulf drilling"

"Gov. Bush eases off on Gulf drilling"

"Deal could protect Florida coast, he says"

Gov. Jeb Bush on Wednesday strongly denied that he has backed off a longtime stance against oil drilling in the eastern Gulf of Mexico.

A report in the Orlando Sentinel, published on the front page of Wednesday's Times-Union, spurred a flurry of e-mails, news releases and phone calls between Tallahassee and Washington, where Florida's congressional leaders are portraying a united front against drilling.

Gov. Jeb Bush's support for proposals that would allow drilling to within 125 miles of Florida's coasts has suddenly created a new tightrope for candidates to walk in next year's gubernatorial and U.S. Senate races.

Candidates in the statewide races -- particularly the Republicans -- must now decide whether to support the governor's position. ...

The leading Republicans in the governor's race, Florida Attorney General Charlie Crist and Chief Financial Officer Tom Gallagher, declined to make a direct comment on the Bush position.

Among Democrats, only U.S. Rep. Jim Davis of Tampa sharply derided the governor for his negotiations.

Gov. Jeb Bush has driven a wedge through the political solidarity that for years has kept the waters off Florida free of oil and gas rigs. The governor says it's better to cut a deal with the federal government than to maintain existing protections against drilling.

It's a reversal for Bush, who in 2001 succeeded in deterring his brother President Bush's administration from allowing new drilling in an area known as Lease Sale 181. "There is not going to be drilling from any lease sale off Florida," the governor said at the time. "I call this a win for the people of Florida."

Now he is helping to shape congressional legislation that would allow drilling in that same area of the Gulf of Mexico. Call this a defeat. ...

The governor's flip-flop is puzzling ....

The first ads of the 2006 governor's race have hit Florida's airwaves in Florida, bankrolled by a shadowy fund-raising group that says it promotes conservative causes.

Though the election is still a year away, radio ads began airing this week praising Chief Financial Officer and Republican candidate Tom Gallagher as "a fiscal conservative in the [Florida Gov.] Jeb Bush tradition."

In particular, the 30-second spots, which are running in Orlando on the conservative talk-radio station 540 AM, highlight Gallagher's support for more restrictions on civil lawsuits. Gallagher, a narrator tells listeners, "has a record that strikes fear" in personal injury lawyers. ...

The ads were paid for by a group called the "Conservative Education Network", a committee known as a "527" after a section of the IRS code that is able to raise unlimited amounts of money. A trio of Tallahassee lobbyists -- including Geoffrey Becker, a former Republican Party of Florida executive director, and Slater Bayliss, a former Bush staffer -- formed the committee earlier this summer.

"Jeb Bush must leave office because of term limits - and Florida needs another job-creating champion. Twenty years ago, it was Tom Gallagher who fought for real lawsuit reform. Today, Tom Gallagher has a record that strikes fear in the personal injury lawyers who profit from lawsuit abuse. Take a look at Tom Gallagher - a fiscal conservative, in the Jeb Bush tradition," says the ad running in the Tampa Bay area and other parts of the state.

Eric Copeland, a little-known Coral Gables attorney running for state chief financial officer, switched races Wednesday, saying he wants to avoid a Democratic primary fight against presumed front-runner Adelaide ''Alex'' Sink, a former banker.

Copeland instead will challenge Republican agriculture commissioner Charles Bronson.

Democrats say former U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay's campaign cash is "dirty money" and should be returned, but Florida Republicans aren't buying it.

None of 13 Florida House Republicans who received campaign donations from DeLay intends to give that money back, according to a canvass of those offices.

Environmentalists, Democrats and Republican U.S. Sen. Mel Martinez of Florida staunchly oppose the bill, which would allow oil and gas drilling 125 miles from Florida waters. They continue to insist that a strong political front in Florida can stop all new drilling in the eastern Gulf.

"Sure they do," Bush said, deriding their position. "But that's great. I've talked to the fairy godmother about it."

says he raised about $170,000 in the six weeks since he got into the race. That's approaching what frontrunner Kathy Castor raised in her first three months in the race. Castor said Monday he total is now up to about $350,000.

"Boy he's a heck of a fundraiser," state Sen. Les Miller said of Fox. Miller said he raised about $70,000 during the last quarter, bringing his total raised to nearly $180,000.

Attorney Scott Farrell said he expects to report that he's raised more than $100,000 all told.

For years, U.S. Rep. John Mica has been the most supportive member of Florida's delegation when it comes to drilling for oil and gas in the Gulf.

Also for years, the Winter Park Republican has been the only member of the Florida delegation who had a brother who worked as a lobbyist for the petroleum industry.

Both brothers say there is no connection. ...

"I voted to drill in the Everglades in the 1970s, back when he was still in college," Mica said. "And I'd do it again."

State Chief Financial Officer Tom Gallagher on Tuesday proposed reforms to counter allegations of fraud, cronyism and lax oversight within Citizens Property Insurance, the state-backed insurer that his office pioneered.

At Gallagher's urging, Gov. Jeb Bush and the Cabinet endorsed mandatory board approval of Citizens' expenditures greater than $10,000, criminal background checks of executives at Citizens and notification of state insurance regulators within 48 hours of suspected fraud by employees.

White House and National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) officials have spent the past several months trying to dissuade Harris from entering the race. Asked if these officials have warmed to a Harris candidacy, Rollins said simply: "She will be the nominee."

A Florida Republican source close to the campaign offered a bleaker picture, saying Harris’s third-quarter fundraising numbers "aren’t going to look very good, and that’s going to be a pretty big blow." ...

If Harris’s fundraising figures turn out to be lackluster, the Florida Republican source said, pressure could grow for Bense to reconsider his earlier decision not to seek the Senate seat. ...

Dornan said party officials have not given any indication that they oppose a Harris candidacy, adding that Republican National Committee Chairman Ken Mehlman and Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R) have praised Harris in the press.

Wexler usually doesn't mind getting into a fight, whether it's defending Bill Clinton or attacking President Bush or taking legal and political aim against former Palm Beach County Elections Supervisor Theresa LePore.

But when pressed to take sides in a brewing multi-Democrat battle for a south-county state House seat, Wexler begged off.

The good news is that the Florida Supreme Court last week extended by nine months a deadline allowing convicted felons to request DNA testing that might prove their innocence.

The better news would be for the deadline to be eliminated altogether.

Kidan, a fast-talking, 41-year-old who has always portrayed himself as a deal maker, finds himself deep in hot water. His relationship with a Gambino crime-family associate, charged last week in the 2001 mob-style hit on former SunCruz Casinos owner Gus Boulis, has thrust him into the middle of a pulp-fiction crime.

Kidan grew up in an upper middle-class family in New York and studied at George Washington University in the mid-1980s. He worked part-time for a nonprofit educational foundation. In Washington, he also met Abramoff, who was at Georgetown Law Center. They were active in the College Republicans. ...

He graduated from Brooklyn Law School in 1989, working as a volunteer in George H.W. Bush's presidential campaign. Dazzled by politics, after graduation he returned to the nation's capital to be part of a fledgling nonprofit group, For Freedoms Foundation, started by Bush campaign workers.

According to the police report, Schweitzer yelled at the officer: "[expletive] off. [expletive] you. You're a [expletive] [expletive] cop. All [expletive] cops are [expletives]."

(According to an article from the Church World Service, Schweitzer's past work for Martinez included serving as the Republican senator from Orlando's liaison in meeting with a delegation of African church leaders.)

The arresting officer wrote that Schweitzer also told him that "officers could do whatever they '[expletive] wanted to do,' because she did not care, because her boss, Florida United States Senator Bill Nelson, would 'take care' " of the officer. ...

According to the incident report, Schweitzer was charged with assault and battery on a police officer, trespassing and disorderly conduct.

Schweitzer told the officer that "upon reflecting on her actions, that the considerable amount of alcohol she consumed during the evening led to her unruly and aggressive behavior."

The Washington Post on the day after the indictment demonstrated as much. In it, Oviedo Republican Tom Feeney was quoted in three stories unabashedly supporting the Texas Republican, who's facing more accusations of ethical lapses. Feeney called the indictment a sham, the accusations partisan and said DeLay was the victim.

And then there was Ric Keller. The Orlando Republican whom Democrats have tarred for taking more than $20,000 in money from DeLay and his political action committees through the years was MIA. When the Post went looking for comments from Republican members of Congress, all Keller gave them was: "I got nothing. Sorry."

Later contacted by Taking Names, Keller's office wouldn't even respond to questions about DeLay -- other than to say the contributions came years ago.

The fast move that a House panel pulled this week to allow drilling a few miles off any coastline - including Florida's - shows there can be no compromising with the pro-drilling forces.

There is no boundary - or agreement - they respect long-term. ...

Consider the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, the most valuable wildlife migration site in the nation, which Congress now seems willing to sacrifice for a modest amount of oil.

When the oil industry pushed to open 95 percent of Alaska's North Slope to oil drilling, federal officials stressed that the refuge would always be protected. The promise was quickly forgotten.