This roundup presents news about the March 8 election to allow slot machines at parimutuels in Broward and Miami-Dade counties.
Miami Rep. Marco Rubio grew up in Las Vegas. His father, a hotel bartender who left Miami Beach, sought better opportunities among the hotels and casinos along the fabled Strip.
But the experience did little to endear Rubio to gambling.
''There are slot machines there in the 7-Elevens,'' Rubio said. ``And they're the most sinister form of gaming, because it's sneaky. They literally nickel and dime you down to your last dollar.''
Today, Rubio will make his anti-slots debut, lending his political influence and voice to the radio debates that are likely to escalate in the closing days of the campaign to bring slot machines to seven racetracks and jai-alai frontons in Dade and Broward.
Rubio, an influential House member poised to become leader of the chamber in 2007, said he voted against the slots measure in November and planned to cast an early ''No'' vote over the weekend.
''No one can tell me that gaming is not going to have negative societal affects,'' the West Miami Republican said. ``The people who are going to be there putting money in are going to be the ones who can least afford to. There's going to be busloads of my elderly constituents spending money they can't afford on these machines, then ending up at the doorstep of local government without enough money for rent or food.''
TALLAHASSEE BATTLE
Gov. Jeb Bush has never shied away from giving his opinion on gambling: He hates it.
So if the slot-machine measure wins approval from South Florida voters and moves on to Tallahassee for crucial work on regulatory and tax legislation, Bush's office will be a battlefield.
Among those already enlisting: former Miami Rep. Manny Prieguez, a Republican who gained a reputation for not always toeing the GOP line. Prieguez, who left office last year to work as a lobbyist at Holland & Knight law firm, was one of a few lawmakers who bucked Bush on legislation that called for prison sentences for gun-toting teens.
Prieguez, who with former Miami Rep. Luis Rojas, now heads the Spanish media campaign for the pro-slots forces in Miami-Dade and Broward, said he doesn't expect Bush to hold a grudge.
''He understands the political process and understands this is a game of compromise,'' Prieguez said.
State law -- and the Florida Constitution -- bar former members from lobbying their former colleagues for two years after leaving office, but they can lobby the executive branch.
Rojas, who has lobbied in Tallahassee for Hartman & Tyner, which owns the Hollywood Greyhound Track, says the state already has gambling at the Indian casinos and offshore boats -- but reaps no tax dollars.
''With this proposal, the state will benefit,'' Rojas said.