The TEA Party of Florida squares off against 33 local tea parties and individual Floridians in federal district court in West Palm Beach Wednesday.

The TEA Party, which was sued by rival tea organizations for co-opting the name, seeks dismissal of the lawsuit.

Emmy award-winning journalist Deborah Gianoulis, a fixture on Jacksonville television as an evening news anchor for almost 25 years, announced Tuesday that she was running as a Democrat against Sen. John Thrasher of Jacksonville, chairman of the Republican Party of Florida. Thrasher’s district stretches from Nassau County, through Jacksonville and Duval County, and includes parts of St. Johns and Flagler counties before ending in Volusia County. 

Shortly after former Republican Party of Florida Chairman Jim Greer was arrested Wednesday morning, a flurry of candidates for office and other state political leaders reacted by releasing statements to the media: Here are excerpts from a few of those statements:

Attorneys for indicted clients rarely shy away from hitting hyperbolic high notes. To say that Jim Greer's lawyer, Damon Chase, is heated up is an understatement.

"It's outrageous," the Orlando attorney said of the ex-Republican Party chairman's arrest Wednesday morning. "Twelve armed gunmen stormed his house and held his wife and children at bay while ransacking the place for 3 1/2 hours."

Saying "Elian Gonzalez was treated better," Chase denounced the "government thugs" who pressed the state's case against Greer.

Virtually the entire political class of Florida's leadership wishes you and yours a happy Memorial Day and wants you to honor the men and women who lost their lives in the country's defense. Here are some of their voices:

Gov. Charlie Crist enthralled Florida's teachers unions when he vetoed Senate Bill 6. Whether he impressed the Obama Administration remains to be seen.

Though 31 Republican Party of Florida credit card holders -- staff members, legislative leaders and political aides -- racked up $7.3 million in American Express charges between 2007 and 2010, those fat AmEx expenditures actually represented less than 15 percent of party expenses during that period.

It's a fact, said RPOF spokeswoman Katie Gordon Betta. The RPOF raised more than $50.9 million during the same period -- and spent more than it took in: $51.6 million.

The Republican Party of Florida released credit card records Friday containing more than $7 million in charges racked up by 31 Republicans -- not all of them household names, not all of them even party leaders.

Nevertheless, the release of such records would have been virtually unnecessary had Gov. Charlie Crist not vetoed a bill that would have allowed more transparency in fundraising and expenditures. The bill would have created so-called party affiliation committees through which expenditure reports by both Republicans and Democrats would have been more detailed.

With the session over, Sen. John Thrasher, R-St. Augustine, wants to focus on his responsibilities as chairman of the Republican Party of Florida as well as his legislative ones.

Having taken over the RPOF after a number of financial scandals under previous chairman Jim Greer, Thrasher now heads the party as it responds to Gov. Charlie Crist leaving Republican ranks to continue his bid for the U.S. Senate as an independent.