While U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio will not be speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) later in February, two of his fellow Sunshine State Republicans will be addressing the event.

Carol Browner, who headed the Florida Department of Environmental Regulation under Gov. Lawton Chiles, is leaving her post at the White House, where she ran the Office of Energy and Climate Change Policy.

When Jennifer Carroll was sworn in as Florida’s 18th lieutenant governor, she became the first African-American in the state’s history to hold that position. But while the likes of Carroll and former U.S. Rep. Carrie Meek are trailblazers, they are also following in the footsteps of a generation of African-American leaders who shaped Florida greatly in the turbulent and often chaotic years that followed the Civil War.

As Rick Scott takes the reins of Florida government, some longtime political players find themselves marginalized or cut out of the decision-making loop altogether.

Multimillionaire Gov. Rick Scott is taking a single penny for his gubernatorial salary, but he’s stocking his staff with people commanding six-figure salaries while promising to cut state spending as the state faces a $3.5 billion shortfall and 12 percent unemployment.

On Tuesday, hours before he took office as the 45th governor of the state of Florida, Rick Scott looked for help from above at a prayer breakfast held in Tallahassee.

On March 4, 1829, the newly inaugurated President Andrew Jackson held an open house event at the White House -- leading to a mob of around 20,000 celebrating his election and running “Old Hickory” out of his new home. While open house events at the White House ended during Grover Cleveland’s first term, newly inaugurated Florida governors continue to hold open houses in the governor’s mansion in Tallahassee.

Besides outgoing Gov. Charlie Crist, there were three former governors attending Rick Scott’s inauguration as the state’s 45th governor: Claude Kirk, who was elected in 1966; Bob Martinez, who won office in 1986; and Jeb Bush, who was elected in 1998 and 2002.

Gov.-elect Rick Scott spent Sunday night at the Governor’s Mansion, up early enough to walk his dog Reagan, a yellow labrador, around the grounds. Reagan was obtained from a shelter during the campaign.

The jockeying continues to see who will be the next chairman of the Republican Party of Florida. Former RPOF Chairman Tom Slade endorsed former Rep. Dave Bitner this week, praising the current Jefferson County RPOF committeeman for his commitment to conservative values.

Incoming Gov. Rick Scott continues his “inaugural appreciation” tour of the state with a whirlwind trip across Florida Wednesday.