Bradenton City Council member Patrick Roff leads Gingrich campaign in Manatee

Bradenton City Council member Patrick Roff has been named chairman of Newt Gingrich's campaign in Manatee County, according to The Buzz.

Gingrich's campaign made the announcement as part of the rollout of its organization in Florida in advance of the Jan. 31 presidential primary.

Gingrich's apparent chief rival for the Republican nomination, Mitt Romney, unveiled his Florida organization earlier this year. One of his statewide co-chairs is former state Sen. Pat Neal, one of the largest real estate developers in Manatee.

Pat Neal says he won't run against Bill Galvano for Florida Senate

It was puzzling to read this morning that former state Sen. Pat Neal was the "expected opponent" for former state Rep. Bill Galvano in the race for Bradenton's seat in the Florida Senate. As one of the area's most prominent developers, Neal probably has the name ID and financial heft to go toe to- oe with Galvano, who has been running for the seat for more than a year, but nothing to this point had suggested that the Senate race would be a venue for clash of two of the area's political titans.


Today, Neal all but completely disabused the notion he was preparing for a re-entry into electoral politics as a candidate.


The Herald's Jim Jones reports:

Based on the way Florida Senate District 21 has been redrawn, developer and former state senator Pat Neal says he won’t be a candidate to replace the term-limited Mike Bennett of Bradenton. 

To date, former state representative Bill Galvano, a Republican from Bradenton, is the only declared candidate for the District 21 seat. 

“It’s not my intent to run against Bill Galvano, He’s been my friend for 30 years. I don’t ever contemplate running against Bill,” Neal said Tuesday.

For his part, Galvano says he is happy to run in the District 21, as proposed by the Senate's redistricting committee.

Bradenton's Pat Neal co-chairs Romney's social-conservative advisers

Former state Sen. Pat Neal of Bradenton has been named a co-chair of Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney's Social Conservatives Statewide Steering Committee.

The Miami Herald's Naked Politics blog has the release from the Romney campaign:

Mitt Romney’s Florida campaign today announced the names of the Social Conservatives Statewide Steering Committee. Each member has been an active voice in state politics and an advocate for conservative causes and issue campaigns. The Romney campaign will utilize this coalition to perform voter outreach and coalition building for Get Out the Vote efforts. 

“Mitt Romney is pro-life and is a true conservative on issues of family and faith,” said state co-chair Pat Neal, former state senator and former chair of the board of the Christian Coalition of Florida. “The members of this committee are tired of the liberal policies of the Obama Administration and are confident that Gov. Romney will stand up for the values that have made our country strong and will appoint judges that respect the Constitution and the rule of law.” 

“I am honored by the support of these important Florida leaders,” said Mitt Romney. “Like them, I believe that America is great because of the faith of our founders and the strength of our families, and we must do everything that we can to preserve both.”

Earlier in the campaign, Romney had named Neal one of the Florida co-chairs for his campaign.

A prominent real estate developer in Bradenton, Neal has contributed $7,500 to Romney's presidential campaign, according to Federal Elections Commission records; his wife Charlene has contributed an additional $2,500.