In what looks like a victory for the same conservative forces backing Marco Rubio in Florida, Republican Party nominee Dede Scozzafava dropped out of a special election to fill a vacant House seat in New York Saturday.

Scozzafava’s withdrawal means Doug Hoffman, running as the Conservative Party candidate, will face the Democratic nominee, Bill Owens, head-to-head in the special election Tuesday in the upstate New York district.

Hoffman is backed by many of the same prominent national conservative individuals and organizations backing Rubio in his conservative insurgency against Gov. Charlie Crist in the Florida Senate GOP primary. If Hoffman wins in New York, it’s likely to energize and embolden those forces even further.

Nationwide, conservative Republicans have been watching the two races, Florida’s Senate primary and the New York House race, as top battlegrounds in the party’s moderate v. conservative internal struggle.

Scozzafava, a state Assembly member, had been endorsed by the national party, just as Crist has in the Florida Senate primary. Like Crist, she is a moderate, but significantly more liberal on some issues—she favors gay marriage and abortion rights, for example.

She was chosen over Hoffman as the GOP nominee in a decision made by party leaders in the district about five weeks ago. He then jumped to the Conservative Party ticket, and she faced a mounting crescendo of criticism from GOP conservatives. Sarah Palin, for example, recently endorsed Hoffman.

In an interview before Scozzafava dropped out, Rep. Jeff Miller of Chumuckla, one of only two prominent Florida GOP elected officials to back Rubio, said a Hoffman win “would be a clear shot across the bow” of the Republican Party.

“It would help build momentum for the Rubio campaign. It would show the conservatives are serious.”

The few reliable, independent polls in the New York race show a battle too close to call between Hoffman and Owens.

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State Sen. Paula Dockery will announce a decision on whether to enter the governor’s race next week, and won’t comment on the accuracy of a news report, and rumors in Tallahassee, that’s she’ll announce she’s running.

Dockery has already said she’s leaning strongly toward entering the race, in which she would oppose Attorney General Bill McCollum in a Republican primary.

“What’s happened? I just came from a funeral and my phone is full,” Dockery said in an interview a few minutes ago.

When told that The Lakeland Ledger had just posted a story citing unnamed Republican sources saying she will enter the race next week, Dockery laughed. Her response:

“I am going to make my decision known next week. I have a lot of friends and supporters in Lakeland who are urging to me to run and they’re getting very excited.”

GOP insiders in Tallahassee are saying Dockery will make an announcement Tuesday, and that the announcement will be that she’s running.

As Holly Benson made her expected announcement today that she’s running for attorney general, supporters of her Republican primary opponent, Lt. Gov. Jeff Kottkamp are fighting back.

Or at least, someone who doesn’t like Benson is. Reporters today received a packet of negative information about Benson from an anonymous source.

Meanwhile, Kottkamp will attempt to defuse news about Benson’s announcement with an endorsement by the Fraternal Order of Police.

Announcing her candidacy today in her hometown of Pensacola, Benson said, “People are deeply troubled that government is even more out of touch, more out of control and is expanding its power, while abandoning the principles that make Florida a great place to live, work and raise a family.”

Kottkamp responded with a campaign statement saying, “Political competition is the foundation of a successful and vibrant democracy. I salute Ms. Benson’s desire to serve and welcome her to this year-long political marathon. We served together in the legislature and I have always found her to be a nice and pleasant individual. I look forward to a positive issue-oriented primary campaign.”

He also scheduled a news conference for today at 3:30 in the Jacksonville office of the Fraternal Order of Police, presumably to announce an endorsement.

Meanwhile, political reporters statewide were receiving an email with no identification other than an email address, “ethicalpublicservant@rocketmail.com,” containing a list of alleged ethical violations committed by Benson while in the state Legislature and as a state official.

“That ain’t us,” said Rocky Pennington, Kottkamp’s campaign consultant. “If I was doing it, I’d put my name on it.”

Pennington said he has requested records from the state Agency for Health Care Administration and the Department of Business and Professional Regulation, both of which Benson formerly headed, “but I haven’t received anything yet.”

U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson is the latest party leader to back Kendrick Meek in Florida’s U.S. Senate race, an indication that the party is uniting behind Meek despite questions about whether he can beat Gov. Charlie Crist, his likely Republican opponent, in a general election race.

Meek has now been endorsed by Nelson, the party’s senior elected official; Alex Sink, the presumptive Democratic nominee for governor; Bob Graham, the party’s preeminent elder statesman; and several Democratic congress members including Kathy Castor of Tampa.

Meek hasn’t succeeded in scaring off competition for his party’s Senate nomination, as Sink has done in the governor’s race. Former Miami Mayor Maurice Ferre entered the primary race against Meek earlier this month.

Meek, who has never run a statewide race, likely would face either Crist or Republican challenger Marco Rubio in the November general election. Either would provide a tough challenge for Meek; many party activists aren’t convinced he could beat Crist, who maintains high popularity ratings among Democrats and no-party voters, and is one of the best political fundraisers in state history.

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