Former Florida Republican candidate for governor Mike McCalister is running for the 2012 Republican nomination for U.S. Senate in a bid to unseat Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson,reports the Tampa Bay Buzz.

McCallister was an unknown in the governor’s race until he got 10 percent of the vote, ostensibly out of voter disgust given the negative primary campaign between Bill McCollum and now Gov.-elect Rick Scott.

Who is Mike McCalister? On primary night, The Florida Independent gave some background:

His campaign “About Me” page links to a nine-page C.V. (PDF) listing his PhD in management from The Union Institute in Cincinnati. He currently teaches at Everglades University in Sarasota and the for-profit University of Phoenix-Tampa.

Many expect Sen. George LeMieux to run for Nelson’s seat in 2012 (as he pledged to only fill out the term of retiring Sen. Mel Martinez after his boss, Gov. Charlie Crist, appointed him), as well as congressmen Connie Mack and Vern Buchannan, and possibly incoming state Senate President Mike Haridopolos.