ROSS READY TO RUN, BUT NOT IN A MULTI-CANDIDATE PRIMARY

Updating yesterday's surprise news...

Political writer Bill Rufty reports in this morning's Lakeland Ledger that State Representative Dennis Ross (R - Lakeland) will travel to Tallahassee to file as a candidate for the U.S. Senate, challenging Congresswoman Katherine Harris (R - Longboat Key). But...there is a catch.

There are rumours that presidential adviser Karl Rove has been working to convince Orlando businessman Will McBride to run for the office. Ross is saying that he will not run if it means a three person primary.

"If we get into a multi-candidate race then Katherine wins," Ross said Thursday night. "I have been on the phone all day and have been encouraged to run by most..."

Rufty writes that Ross had apparantly considered running for several weeks, but put the thoughts aside when it looked as though House Speaker Allan Bense (R - Panama City) would jump in.

While Ross is not well known outside of his district which is areas of Polk and Hillsborough counties, he is Chairman of the House Insurance Committee. He had originally to run for state Chief Financial Officer, but decided against it after he discovered that he would have to sell his interest in his Lakeland law firm. The only difference in running for the U.S. Senate is he would only have to remove his name from the firm's name.