With Charlie Crist's independence day, fireworks in Florida

Florida Gov. Charlie Crist announced Thursday that he would run in the race for the open US Senate seat as an independent. That makes it a three-way race, where anything is possible.

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In a private poll Mr. Coker conducted earlier this month looking at a potential three-way Senate race in Florida, the majority of Crist’s support was coming from Democrats. “That’s the problem,” says Coker, who is based in Jacksonville, Fla. “Democrats are going to melt away. Once Charlie starts to drop and they don’t think he can win, they’re all going to jump back to Meek.”

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Crist's allies

One immediate question for Crist is how he can raise enough money to be competitive. At the end of March, he had $7.5 million cash on hand, but Florida is an expensive media state, and he will need to raise a lot more. Analysts suggest he could pull in money from the Seminole Indian tribe and the gambling industry, following his approval of sweeping new betting rules. Teachers may also donate, after his veto of an unpopular education bill. And his finance chair, top GOP fundraiser Brent Sembler, is sticking by him.

In addition to fundraising questions, Crist also faces requests for refunds from unhappy Republicans, starting with the National Republican Senatorial Committee, which wants its $10,000 back. The chairman of the committee, Sen. John Cornyn (R) of Texas, told reporters Thursday at a Monitor breakfast that he too wanted a refund of the donation he made to Crist from his leadership PAC.

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