GOP primaries

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee (R) is endorsing House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman John Mica (R-Fla.) in his bid for reelection.

Mica is running in a contentious member-versus-member primary against freshman Rep. Sandy Adams.

But Huckabee, a presidential candidate in 2008, said the long-term Transportation Committee chairman deserved to return to Congress.

“John Mica is a proven leader who doesn’t just talk; he achieves sound conservative results," Huckabee said in a statement released by Mica’s campaign.

House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman John Mica (R-Fla.) is touting an internal poll his campaign says shows the long-term Florida lawmaker trouncing Rep. Sandy Adams in their member-versus-member primary. 

Adams has hammered Mica for his role in the recent passage of a $105 billion transportation bill spending, but Mica's campaign said Tuesday he was leading their contentious race by 38 points.

"The voters always see through false assertions and negative accusations," Mica campaign strategist John Dowless said in a statement about the internal poll, which showed Mica drawing 55 percent to Adams' 17 percent.

"This poll, once again, shows they clearly want their representatives to have a real record of fighting for conservative values," Dowless said. 

Former vice presidential nominee and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R) has endorsed Rep. Sandy Adams (R-Fla.) in her member-versus-member primary campaign against House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman John Mica (R-Fla.).

Mica and Adams are squaring off in a contentious campaign in which the freshman Adams has painted the long-serving Mica as a Washington insider.

Palin said in a statement released by Adams's campaign Thursday that Adams is more in line with her idea of conservatism than is Mica. 

"We must support conservatives who are with us on the issues but not weighed down with the burden of crony capitalism that is so prevalent in Washington, D.C.," Palin said. "Congresswoman Sandy Adams is just one of those candidates. 

One candidate is blaming the other for the failure of proposed state legislation to outlaw TSA pat-down searches.

House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Rep. John Mica's (R-Fla.) opponent in a member-versus-member Republican primary is calling for him to endorse a permanent ban on earmarking in the legislative process.

Mica has frequented lamented the effect a current House ban on earmarks had on his ability to win support for the recent $105 billion surface transportation that was approved by lawmakers.

But his opponent in his bid for reelection, freshman Rep. Sandy Adams (R-Fla.), said Wednesday that the earmark ban should be permanent.

"John Mica and other big-spending career politicians are part of the problem in Washington, D.C.," Adams said in an email to supporters. “After requesting $4 billion in earmarks and increasing our nation’s debt by more than $10 trillion over the past 20 years, central Floridians cannot afford John Mica any longer.

"With a nearly $16 trillion debt, it is clear the old way of doing things in Congress just doesn't work for the American people," Adams continued. "I will continue to fight for an earmark ban in the 113th Congress, but the question begs to be asked: Would John Mica?”

Rep. Sandy Adams (R-Fla.) said the highway bill that was approved with Mica's help was too expensive. 

Rep. Sullivan (R-Okla.) went down Tuesday in a surprise loss to a political newcomer.

Gingrich refused to rule out being Romney's number two but made clear he didn't expect to be in the running.

A GOP House primary in northern Kentucky on Tuesday is pitting the Republican old guard against the GOP’s Tea Party wing and Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.).

The often heated conflict between Mike Huckabee and the Club for Growth is coming to a boil this month.