While the Republican primary to take on Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson in 2012 is more than a year away, on Monday the camps of the two leading GOP hopefuls -- former U.S. Sen. George LeMieux and former state House Majority Leader Adam Hasner -- came out swinging at each other.

On Monday, the team behind former U.S. Sen. George LeMieux, now running in the Republican primary to take on Democratic U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, came out firing at former state House Majority Leader Adam Hasner, their chief GOP rival. The LeMieux team took exception to Hasner’s claims that he is a conservative.

“As a Tallahassee politician, Hasner voted for numerous items that most conservatives oppose,” noted the LeMieux team in an e-mail sent out on Monday. “Of course, Hasner cannot be trusted to inform Florida Republicans about those positions in his nonconservative closet. So, our campaign is offering a sort of public service. We are providing voters a behind-the-scenes look at Adam Hasner’s masquerade ball. When you pull back the curtain, you find the true identity of Hasner’s nonconservative record – the one that sits behind the conservative masks he proudly wears. The masquerade ball gown Hasner has chosen on the key issues of taxes and spending is a prime example. Hasner’s rhetoric simply does not match his record.”

The LeMieux team hammered Hasner for the growth of state government during his time in Tallahassee, backing more than $92 million in Community Budget Issue Requests (CBIRs), which they compared to earmarks, backing higher taxes and relying on federal stimulus funds to balance the budget.

“Our campaign will maintain its focus on where the voters deserve it to be, namely promoting George LeMieux’s great record and vision for our state and country, and comparing George’s conservative U.S. Senate record with incumbent Bill Nelson’s liberal U.S. Senate record,” said  Brian Seitchik, LeMieux’s campaign manager. “That said, on occasion we will feature additional episodes in Adam Hasner’s masquerade ball, just to make sure Florida Republicans don’t get tricked by Hasner’s disguises.”

Hasner appeared ready for the attacks from the LeMieux camp. Less than 20 minutes after Seitchik released a statement trashing the former House leader, Hasner’s team released an e-mail entitled “Here Come the Attacks.” The Hasner camp claimed to be garnering momentum with fundraising and endorsements.

“This momentum means we're building a strong, principled, grass-roots campaign that will not only unite Republicans toward victory in the primary election, but will defeat Senator Bill Nelson next November,” noted the Hasner camp. “It also means that our opponents will grow more desperate, and will do anything they can to stop us. Bill Nelson and George LeMieux have grown accustomed to being called ‘Senator’ and they will do anything they can to keep it that way. Already, they have launched false and misleading attacks.”

Hasner looked to tie LeMieux to his former boss -- ex-Gov. Charlie Crist, who is persona non grata to Republicans for leaving the GOP.

“Bill Nelson is relying on the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and liberal groups like Progress Florida to do his bidding, while George LeMieux resorts to the tricks he learned as Charlie Crist's top political operative,” insisted the Hasner team. “In the coming weeks and months, you can expect to see more false, negative stories about Adam, more attacks from our opponents, and more distortions of Adam's record.

“We'll fight back each and every time to set the record straight,” insisted the Hasner camp. “No matter how hard our opponents try to attack Adam or distort his record, he won't stop fighting.”

Later on Monday, the Hasner campaign fired back again at LeMieux -- and, once again, continued the line of attack by connecting their rival to Crist.