While a number of elections across the state appear to be interesting contests that will go to the wire, more than 30 members of the Legislature can uncork the champagne and claim victory more than four months before citizens actually vote.

Filing closed for state elections at noon on Friday -- setting the stage for some interesting contests in Florida come November.

Attorney General Bill McCollum, currently locked in a tight battle with health-care executive Rick Scott for the Republican gubernatorial nomination, called for local taxes and property taxes to be frozen at their current levels for the next two years. The attorney general also called for caps on the growth of local governments.

Health care executive Rick Scott, a political phenomenon who went from virtual unknown to the leading candidate for the Republican gubernatorial nomination in the course of a mere two months, filed his paperwork to make his bid official lateThursday morning.

Looking to become the first woman to serve as governor in Florida’s 165-year history -- and hoping to break a losing streak for the Democrats who have not won a gubernatorial election since 1994 -- state Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink filed the needed paperwork to ensure her name will be on the ballot.

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. 

Health care executive Rick Scott has hit the campaign trail. The Republican gubernatorial candidate, now leading in the polls over Attorney General Bill McCollum for the GOP nomination, campaigned through the Panhandle over the weekend, hit Bartow on Monday and will speak in Tallahassee on Thursday.

A week after announcing that he was planning to run for governor, independent candidate Bud Chiles, son of Florida political icon and long-time U.S. senator and governor Lawton Chiles, kicks off his campaign Saturday morning in Lakeland -- with his father’s legacy front and center.

Gov. Charlie Crist’s veto of HB 1143, a measure requiring women considering having an abortion in the first trimester of pregnancy to have an ultrasound, led to like-minded reactions from the governor’s rivals in a tight contest for the open U.S. Senate seat in November.