Charlie Crist Joins Democrats: Former Florida Governor Makes It Official

Former Florida governor Charlie Crist has joined the Democrats, in a political move that perhaps everyone was expecting.

Charlie Crist is the former governor of Florida and his party affiliations used to be Republican. Republicans at the time recognized that Charlie Crist shared more ideas with Democrats than fellow GOP members, which eventually led to the ex-governor switching his party affiliation to Independent. According to the Guardian, Crist’s newest Florida voter registration application only confirms the transition.

Charlie Crist explained his decision, saying:

“I’ve had friends for years tell me … You know Charlie, you’re a Democrat and you don’t know it.'”

In 2010, after Charlie Crist lost the Republican primary challenge, he opted to run as an Independent, losing a three-way Senate contest to rising Republican star Marco Rubio. As Crist joins Democrats in the political game, talk is likely to turn to a possible run in 2014 against current Florida Governor Rick Scott, who recently declared that Florida’s budget now had a $1.2 billion surplus, or “unallocated general revenue,” based upon his decisions.

Crist even reportedly shared a “fist bump” with President Obama.

“Charlie Crist’s first official act as a Democrat was to tell a lie about why he is now pretending to be one,” the Florida GOP said in a statement early Saturday. “The truth is that this self-professed, Ronald Reagan Republican only abandoned his pro-life, pro-gun, conservative principles in 2010 after he realized that Republicans didn’t want to send him to Washington DC as a senator, especially after he proved he couldn’t do the job as governor.”

The 56-year-old politician tweeted out a picture of him and his wife Carole holding aloft a Florida voter registration application. The accompanying message read:

“Proud and honored to join the Democratic Party in the home of President @BarackObama.”

As Crist joins Democrats in their struggled against the Republicans, what do you think of the former Florida governor’s turnabout in politics?