Former state Sen. Dan Webster (R) has scheduled a “major political announcement” for today, after telling allies that he now is leaning toward going after Rep. Alan Grayson’s (D) seat.

Last fall, many Republicans saw Webster as someone who could clear the GOP field and help the party avoid a contested primary.

Webster and some other Republicans passed on the race, so the party turned to Orlando businessman Bruce O’Donoghue.

O’Donoghue was recently added to the National Republican Congressional Committee’s “Young Guns” campaign program after raising more than $300,000 in the first quarter.

A Webster candidacy could further split the Orlando vote that O’Donoghue was trying to consolidate in the crowded primary. And that might turn out to be good news for state Rep. Kurt Kelly (R), the lone elected official in the race, who hails from Marion County in the northern end of the district.

A man who answered the phone at the heating and air-conditioning company Webster owns in Orlando said Wednesday that the former legislator was not taking press calls.