Richard Lynn "Rick" Scott (born December 1, 1952) is a businessman and the 45th and current Governor of the U.S. state of Florida. He served in the U.S. Navy and then went into business. He earned a business degree and law degree and joined a Dallas firm where he became partner. His net worth was almost $219 million USD in 2010, but by 2011 was estimated at $103 million. He spent an estimated $75 million of his own money on his successful 2010 run for Governor of Florida.

In 1987, at age 34, he co-founded Columbia Hospital Corporation with two business partners; this merged with Hospital Corporation of America in 1989 to form Columbia/HCA and eventually became the largest private for-profit health care company in the U.S. He resigned as Chief Executive of Columbia/HCA in 1997 amid a controversy over the company's business and Medicare billing practices; the company ultimately admitted to fourteen felonies and agreed to pay the federal government over $600 million; Scott was not implicated. Scott later became a venture capitalist.

Jon Stewart (born Jonathan Stuart Leibowitz; November 28, 1962) is an American political satirist, writer, television host, actor, media critic and stand-up comedian. He is widely known as host of The Daily Show, a satirical news program that airs on Comedy Central.

Stewart started as a stand-up comedian, but branched into television as host of Short Attention Span Theater for Comedy Central. He went on to host his own show on MTV, called The Jon Stewart Show, and then hosted another show on MTV called You Wrote It, You Watch It. He has also had several film roles as an actor. Stewart became the host of The Daily Show on Comedy Central in early 1999. He is also a writer and co-executive-producer of the show. After Stewart joined, The Daily Show steadily gained popularity and critical acclaim, resulting in his sixteen Emmy Awards.

Stewart has gained acclaim as an acerbic, satirical critic of personality-driven media shows, in particular those of the US media networks such as CNN, Fox News Channel, and MSNBC. Critics say Stewart benefits from a double standard: he critiques other news shows from the safe, removed position of his "fake news" desk. Stewart agrees, saying that neither his show nor his channel purports to be anything other than satire and comedy. In spite of its self-professed entertainment mandate, The Daily Show has been nominated for news and journalism awards. Stewart hosted the 78th and 80th Academy Awards. He is the co-author of America (The Book): A Citizen's Guide to Democracy Inaction, which was one of the best-selling books in the U.S. in 2004 and Earth (The Book): A Visitor's Guide to the Human Race released in 2010.

Ricardo León "Rick" Sánchez de Reinaldo (born July 3, 1958), known professionally as Rick Sanchez, is a Cuban-American journalist, author and former TV news anchor. After years as the lead local anchor on Miami's WSVN, Sanchez moved to cable news, first as a daytime anchor at MSNBC and then later at CNN, where he began as a correspondent and ultimately rose to become an anchor. On CNN, he hosted his own show Rick's List and served as a contributor to Anderson Cooper 360° and CNN International, where he frequently reported and translated between English and Spanish. Sanchez was fired from CNN on October 1, 2010, following controversial remarks he made on a radio program. In July 2011 Sanchez was hired by Florida International University, to serve as a color commentator for radio broadcasts of the school's football team. His first game was on September 1, 2011.

Sanchez was born in Guanabacoa, Cuba, a township of Havana, and emigrated to the United States with his parents at the age of two. He grew up in Hialeah, Florida, a suburb of Miami, and attended Mae M. Walters Elementary School, Henry H. Filer Middle School, and Hialeah High School, graduating in 1977. Sanchez accepted a football scholarship to Minnesota State University Moorhead and transferred to the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis on a CBS/WCCO Journalism Scholarship in 1979.

Charles Joseph "Charlie" Crist, Jr. (pronounced /ˈkrɪst/; born July 24, 1956) is an American politician who was the 44th Governor of Florida. Prior to his election as governor, Crist previously served as Florida State Senator, Education Commissioner, and Attorney General. He was elected governor in 2006 with 52.4 percent of the vote (against opponent Jim Davis), and took office the following year.

Crist's term as governor ended in January 2011. Crist announced on May 12, 2009 that he would run instead for the United States Senate seat being vacated by then-fellow Republican Mel Martinez. He later decided to run as an independent in the general election, but lost to Republican Marco Rubio.

Crist was born in Altoona, Pennsylvania on July 24, 1956, to Charles Joseph Crist, Sr., an American physician of Greek Cypriot descent, and Nancy (née Lee), of Scots-Irish American descent. His family name is adapted from the original Greek name "Christodoulou". Crist moved to St. Petersburg, Florida, as a child, where he attended Riviera Middle School and graduated from St. Petersburg High School in 1974. He is the second of four children and has three sisters: Margaret Crist Wood, Elizabeth Crist Hyden, and Catherine Crist Kennedy. He attended Wake Forest University for two years, where he played quarterback for the Wake Forest Demon Deacons football team. Crist earned his undergraduate degree from Florida State University where he was elected Vice President of the student body and became a member of the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity. He received his J.D. from Samford University Cumberland School of Law.

Alan Mark Grayson (born March 13, 1958) is a former U.S. Representative for Florida's 8th congressional district, serving from 2009 until 2011. He is a member of the Democratic Party. The district Grayson represented lies in central Florida and includes portions of Orange Lake, Marion, and Osceola Counties. Most of Orlando is in the district, including Walt Disney World. Grayson was defeated for re-election in 2010 by Republican Daniel Webster.

Grayson was born in the Bronx, New York City, New York, United States, to a Jewish family, the son of Dorothy Ann (née Sabin) and Daniel Franklin Grayson. He graduated from Bronx High School of Science in 1975 and worked his way through Harvard College as a janitor and nightwatchman, graduating in 1978 in the top two percent of his class, summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa with an A.B. in economics. After working two years as an economist, he returned to Harvard for graduate studies. In 1983, he earned a J.D. magna cum laude from Harvard Law School and a Masters of Public Policy from the John F. Kennedy School of Government. Additionally, he completed the course work and passed the general exams for a PhD in government.