Florida Gov. Charlie Crist will leave the Republican party and run as an Independent in the Florida Senate race, Fox News reported Wednesday.
Crist is set to make an official announcement at 5 pm ET tomorrow in St. Petersburg, Fla.
The Florida governor has said that under no circumstances would he drop out of the race, saying he will do what is best for the voters of Florida.
Crist said that Republicans in Washington want him to stay in the Republican party but voters in Florida have told him they want him to run as an Independent., Fox News reported.
Speculation that the more moderate Crist would leave the Republican party had mounted in recent weeks as his Republican challenger, former Florida House Speaker Marco Rubio took a commanding lead in polls and received the endorsement of Republican heavyweights such as 2008 presidential hopefuls Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney and former Vice President Dick Cheney.
Crist was trailing Rubio 54 percent to 32 percent Wednesday, according to an average of polls by Realclearpolitics.com.
Crist’s decision to leave his party and run as an independent is not without precedent. Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) lost his Democratic primary in 2006 to Ned Lamont before running as an Independent and winning in the general election.