It’s Official: Charlie Crist Abandons Republican Party

(Sunshine State News) - In what had become one of the worst-kept secrets in Florida, Gov. Charlie Crist announced Thursday that he was abandoning the Republican Party primary to pursue a U.S. Senate seat on his own. By shifting to no-party status, Crist acknowledged months of political polls that have shown him trailing former House speaker Marco Rubio by 20-plus points in the Aug. 26 GOP primary.