Sansom offered a different tone at a similar nominating session with the House Republican caucus. ''This should be the time to celebrate,'' campaign victories that brought all incumbent Republicans back, he said.

Sansom is planning a three-day coastal retreat at the exclusive Watercolor Resort near his home town in the Florida Panhandle later this week. While the agenda will include a discussion of the budget, he said he is ''not pushing the panic button'' about the state's fiscal outlook.

The retreat will be paid for by the Republican Party with money raised by legislators from individual donors, lobbyists and corporations.

In the Senate, Atwater relaxed rules that once required senators to instantly report the political committees they formed, as well as the individual contributions and expenditures they make within 10 days.

Meanwhile, Gov. Charlie Crist and his fiancée, Carole Rome, got in on the celebratory mood Monday night with a shrimp and swordfish dinner at the governor's mansion for Sansom and Atwater and their families.

Sansom and Atwater used the dinner and cocktail hour that preceded it to strengthen their relationships with the governor and his staff.

Lt. Gov Jeff Kottkamp, who attended the dinner with his wife, Cyndie, commended Sansom and Atwater for surviving a grueling campaign season that was difficult for most Republicans across the nation.

''We don't know what's worse, the campaign or the budget,'' Sansom joked.

But Kottkamp was optimistic. ''Yeah, there's challenges,'' he said. ``But there are opportunities, too. This kind of positive working relationship will be good for the state.''

At the end of the meal, Crist introduced Atwater and his mother, Patricia, to tell the story of her flamboyant grandfather, Gov. Napoleon Bonaparte Broward, who was governor of Florida 100 years ago -- from 1905 to 1909.

The Democrat ran guns to freedom fighters in Cuba at the turn of the last century and, so the story goes, turned down an offer to be the vice presidential running mate of one of Crist's heroes, Theodore Roosevelt.

'He said, `No, I don't want to leave Florida,' '' Patricia Atwater said.

Added Sen. Atwater: ``His entrepreneurial spirit is what led him to public office -- Florida's fighting Democrat. So we have a great bit of bipartisanship, too.''

''That's wonderful,'' Crist said. ``We work as a team. That's the only way we're going to accomplish these things.''

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