TAMPA, Fla. -- Florida's primary might not be over just yet.

The Newt Gingrich campaign is gearing up to challenge the results of the Florida Republican presidential primary based on the Republican National Committee's own rules which state that no contest can be winner-take-all prior to April 1, 2012. (See RNC memo.)

It was assumed that Mitt Romney, who won Tuesday's contest, would gain all 50 of the state's delegates. But the Gingrich campaign plans to challenge Florida's allocation and demand the delegates be divvied up proportionally. (See Gingrich memo.)

Fox News has learned exclusively that on Thursday, a Florida Gingrich campaign official will begin the process of trying to have the RNC rules enforced so that the Sunshine State delegates are distributed based on the percentage of the vote each candidate got. (read more)

The Florida Republican Party has released the final numbers of early and absentee voting to be revealed ahead of Tuesday's primary vote.

- 503,111 absentee ballots requested -- 199,132 more than in the 2008 GOP presidential primary.

- 308,416 absentees votes so far -- 85,353 more than in 2008. That will increase before polls close on Tuesday night.

- 283,250 people voted early -- 17,918 more than in 2008

- 591,666 total votes cast and counted before Election Day so far -- 103,271 more than those counted by the day before Election Day in 2008.

Trends show the total vote will likely end up between 1.5 million and 2 million Republican ballots cast.

Winter Park, Fla -- Newt Gingrich has long argued that conservatives should rally around him if they didn't want a Massachusetts moderate to win the nomination, but today when a man in the crowd chimed in with a comment about Rick Santorum, Gingrich gave the audience a good chuckle.

"I have great respect for my good friend Rick Santorum and he's a terrific person," Gingrich said in his closing remarks to a crowd of over 500 people gathered at the Liberty Counsel Forum at Aloma Baptist Church. (read more)

TAMPA, F.L.-- Former GOP presidential candidate, Mike Huckabee "would love for" Newt Gingrich to pull a political campaign ad that features a comment he made during the 2008 campaign that appears to slam Mitt Romney for being "dishonest."

"I know Newt Gingrich at the end of the ad says I approved this message, well let me just say, I didn't approve that message," Huckabee said in an interview Friday on Fox News.

The former governor of Arkansas said his words were "taken out of context" and were also " deceptive" because he was not referring to Romney, one of his 2008 primary rivals.

"That spot, which was back in December of 2007, never mentioned Mitt Romney by name, it never said anything about Mitt Romney. It was a general statement," Huckabee, has not endorsed anyone so far in the 2012 presidential race, and says he doesn't plan to do so. (read more)

Republican Presidential hopeful, Mitt Romney, announced the endorsement of a key Hispanic leader today while campaigning in Florida just ahead of the primary.

"As president, I look forward to working with Governor Fortuno on the issues most pressing for the people of Puerto Rico - job creation, public safety and resolving the Island's 113-year political status question. Every job created on the Island is another American job added to our nation's economic comeback," Romney's statement read.

Governor Luis Fortuno, a rising star in the Republican party and the first Republican to be elected as Governor of Puerto Rico since 1969, will be joining Romney at an event in Orlando this evening.

In a statement, Fortuno said Romney's private-sector experience can "provide economic stability for generations and "be applied to all challenges."

Earlier today, Romney said he would support a move by Puerto Rico to become a statehood, noting Fortuno was "passionate" about the issue. His statements drew large cheers at the Hispanic Leadership forum in Miami. (read more)

 COCOA, F.L. - GOP hopeful Newt Gingrich is unveiling a dramatic new vision for America's space program, which he promises to implement should he become president.  

"By the end of my second term, we will have the first permanent base on the moon," Gingrich vowed at a campaign stop on Florida's space coast. "And it will be American."

The former speaker went even further, calling for a significant increase in the number of trips into orbit.

"We need to figure out how to do five or eight launches a day, not just one," he insisted.  "If we’re going to get to the moon permanently, we have to do this. Does that mean I’m a visionary? You betcha." 

Mitt Romney has sharply criticized Gingrich over earlier space proposals, specifically pointing to a lunar colony plan to mine minerals from the moon as a waste of money. 

One Gingrich idea Team Romney didn't seem to catch - statehood for Americans living on the moon. 

"At one point early in my career I introduced the Northwest Ordinance for space and I said when we have 13,000 Americans living on the moon they can petition to become a state," Gingrich admitted. 

"I wanted every young American to say to themselves, I could be one of those 13,000. I could be a pioneer."

That's a plan Gingrich now hopes to revive. (read more)

WEST PALM BEACH, FL-- Following consecutive wins in Iowa, and New Hampshire, presidential candidate Mitt Romney made his first trip to the critical primary state of Florida Thursday--- greeted by a large and exuberant midday crowd, that broke out into spontaneous chants of "Mitt! Mitt! Mitt!"-- the GOP frontrunner, who is leading his opponents by double-digits in recent polls here, aimed all his shots at President Barack Obama while ignoring his Republican primary rivals.

" It is unacceptable to be critical of our friends. (President Obama) went to the United Nations and criticized Israel for building settlements, " He said , repeating a phrase from earlier speeches, that nonetheless generated loud applause and cheers from the Palm Beach crowd. " He had nothing to say about Hamas' 20,000 rockets into Israel."

"The President's run out of ideas, and he's running out of excuses, and in 2012, with your help, he's run out of time," Romney added in a stump line, more familiar to supporters in Iowa, and New Hampshire, but new to most in the enthused room of over 400 Sunshine staters, as well as an overflow room next door. (read more)

MIAMI, FL-- Mitt Romney's presidential campaign released a new Spanish language TV ad Wednesday, called "Nosotros" -- "Us" --  narrated by the GOP presidential candidates youngest son, Craig, and set to air in the battleground state of Florida, where Romney is wooing Hispanic Americans.

Mostly shot during Romney's last visit to Florida when he received the endorsement of the Cuban-American Florida triumvirate of former Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart, his brother and Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart and Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, the ad features the three praising Romney in Spanish.

 (read more)

ORLANDO, FL - Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, a top Rick Perry backer, warned not to underestimate the Texas governor from making a comeback in the in the GOP presidential primary race despite new poll numbers that show him lagging behind.

" Rick is a fighter, " Jindal said in an interview with FOX News Thursday. " There is plenty of time left in the primary campaign season."

Jindal pointed to this year's mercurial political cycle--- that has seen several GOP front-runners come and go--as the reason why Perry's current trajectory could improve. 

" This has probably been one of the most unpredictable primary seasons on the Republican side. Lots of up and downs and there will probably be a lot more changes between now and when the first votes are cast in Iowa and New Hampshire, so there is a lot of time left," Jindal said of the former front-runner.

Would he support Perry rivals Newt Gingrich or Mitt Romney if either one became the GOP nominee? (read more)

MIAMI -- U.S. Reps. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Mario Diaz-Balart and former Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart (yes, they're brothers) will endorse Mitt Romney Tuesday at an event in South Florida, and serve as foreign policy advisers to the Romney campaign.

The three are powerful among the Cuban community, which makes up the majority of registered Republican voters in Miami-Dade County. Ros-Lehtinen is also chairwoman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

The three all supported Sen. John McCain in 2008 over Romney in the Republican primary. McCain went on to win the Florida primary. Romney lost Miami-Dade by 52,000 votes.

“I am proud to be working with Ileana, Mario, and Lincoln,” Romney said in a statement released early in the day. “They’re conservative leaders who will help me articulate my vision to make America more prosperous at home and respected throughout the world.”

Fox News' Bret Baier is interviewing Romney in an exclusive that will air on "Special Report" on Tuesday night. (read more)