The St. Pete Times Alex Leary reported Thursday night that former Florida House Majority Leader Adam Hasner has submitted paperwork to run for the GOP nomination for U.S. Senate next year.
The reason that's barely making a blip in the state's newspapers Friday morning is that Hasner is apparently waiting until next week to make a grand announcement.
Hasner now joins former U.S. Senator George LeMieux and state Senate President Mike Haridopolos in the field to challenge Democrat Bill Nelson in the fall of 2012. But even though he may have slightly less name recognition than those state wide leaders, one thing he's got going for himself is that he's undoubtedly the most conservative in the group – and if one thing is clear about the Republican Party of Florida circa the spring of 2011, the momentum is with those who align with the tea party and the "hard right," as House Speaker Dean Cannon proudly called himself and Haridopolos a year ago.
This article appears in Apr 21-27, 2011.