Changes

==Politics==

==Politics==

Senator Martinez astonished Floridians by suddenly resigning in August 2009. Governor Christ appointed George LeMieux, age 40, who was Crist's campaign manager in 2006 and served as deputy attorney general of Florida when Crist was attorney general. LeMieux is regarded as one of the shrewdest political strategists in the state and, like Crist, is a moderate conservative Republican.  

Senator [[Mel Martinez]] astonished Floridians by suddenly resigning in August 2009. Governor [[Charlie Christ]] appointed George LeMieux, age 40, who was Crist's campaign manager in 2006 and served as deputy attorney general of Florida when Crist was attorney general. LeMieux is regarded as one of the shrewdest political strategists in the state and, like Crist, is a moderate conservative Republican.  

Christ was elected governor in 2006, running as a fiscal conservative and a moderate on social issues. His style is folksy and he searches for bipartisanship. His handling of the great hurricanes of 2005-6 was widely praised.  He appointed one moderate and two conservatives to the state supreme court. His support for [[John McCain]] helped carry the state primary and played a role in giving the 2008 GOP nomination to McCain. He cut property taxes and cut the state budget, but annoyed some conservatives by his enthusiastic support for the Obama administration's stimulus bill in spring 2009. Polls show a strong base of support from conservatives and moderates and some liberals. Christ will run for reelection in 2010; his rival in the 2010 GOP primary will be state House Speaker Marco Rubio, a Cuban American.

Christ was elected governor in 2006, running as a fiscal conservative and a moderate on social issues. His style is folksy and he searches for bipartisanship. His handling of the great hurricanes of 2005-6 was widely praised.  He appointed one moderate and two conservatives to the state supreme court. His support for [[John McCain]] helped carry the state primary and played a role in giving the 2008 GOP nomination to McCain. He cut property taxes and cut the state budget, but annoyed some conservatives by his enthusiastic support for the Obama administration's stimulus bill in spring 2009. Polls show a strong base of support from conservatives and moderates and some liberals. Christ will run for reelection in 2010; his rival in the 2010 GOP primary will be state House Speaker Marco Rubio, a Cuban American.

==History==

==History==

Florida was first settled by Europeans in 1513, when Spaniard Juan Ponce de Leon landed at St. Augustine. For some time,  Spain and France ran competing colonies in Florida, with the Spanish eventually expelling the French.  Spain never had effective control and sold Florida to the United States in 1819.  Florida seceded from the Union in 1861 and joined the [[Confederate States of America]]; there was little military action in the remote state.   

Florida was first settled by Europeans in 1513, when Spaniard Juan Ponce de Leon landed at St. Augustine. For some time,  Spain and France ran competing colonies in Florida, with the Spanish eventually expelling the French.  Spain never had effective control and sold Florida to the United States in 1819.  Florida seceded from the Union in 1861 and joined the [[Confederate States of America]]; there was little military action in the remote state.