Tom Gallagher's gubernatorial campaign responded with its own letter Thursday evening to 10 state lawmakers calling for the chief financial officer to pull out of the race. (See earlier entry in Buzz below).

The message ( click here to read) was signed by two former Republican Party of Florida chairman, former House Speaker John Thrasher, former Attorney General Jim Smith and eight state lawmakers.

".. what did come as a surprise to everyone, was the fact that as elected officials you would seek to deny over 3.9 million Republicans in Florida the opportunity to vote for our party’s nominee to succeed Governor Jeb Bush," the message chastised. Then for good measure it evoked the fact that there are U.S. soldiers "half way across the world advancing freedom and democracy in countries where hope was being suffocated by brutal regimes."