Politics 
 
 Republican Florida Governor Charlie Crist has decided he will run as an independent in the race to fill the Florida U.S. Senate seat, Crist allies tell Fox News. The official announcement is scheduled for Thursday at 5pm ET in St. Petersburg, Florida. 
 
 The Senate campaign has been rough and tumble for Crist, he was once the front-runner — but in recent months began trailing his GOP opponent, Tea Party favorite and former Florida State Speaker Marco Rubio. Rubio has been able to turn a 30-point deficit in the polls into a 30 point lead over Crist. 
 
 Crist has said that under no circumstance would he drop out of the race, saying he will do what is best for the voters of Florida. The governor says 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. 
 
 His campaign and the governor’s office have not officially confirmed anything, however this move by Crist has made internal communications difficult because some staff are unlikely to continue to work with Crist as an independent candidate. 
 
 The governor is expected to use much of Thursday for courtesy calls to supporters, allies and some Republican officials nationwide. Close advisers expect him to say tomorrow that he looks forward to caucusing with Republicans but that is not a certainty, there are still some issues being worked out and discussed. 
 
 Rubio has also been gaining momentum recently by clinching endorsements from big name Republicans including former Vice President Dick Cheney, New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and former 2008 presidential candidate and Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney. 
 
 “Washington is broken and Congress is already overflowing with politicians who need pollsters to tell them what to think. It certainly doesn’t need another one. Now more than ever America needs leaders with the strength of conviction. That is why I am proud to endorse Marco Rubio,” Cheney said in a statement last week. 
 
 Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., who initially supported Crist, indicated Sunday that if Crist switched to run as an independent, he would no longer support him. 
 
 “I would be troubled if the governor decided to run as an independent. I think that would be a serious problem. And he would certainly not have my support and not have the support of any other Republicans that I know,” McConnell said on Fox News Sunday. 
 
 The governor has been open about his consideration of switching parties, but GOP officials were pushing him to drop out rather than split votes among the Republican party — and give Democratic nominee U.S. Kendrick Meek an advantage. 
 
 On the main page of Crist’s campaign website, there are no visible signs of Republican affiliation. His bio still calls him a “common-sense conservative.” 
 
 The Republican Party of Florida has taken down Crist’s name from most of its official website. He is named in the elected officials section, but has been pulled off in other areas, according to a party official. 
 
 Crist had until Friday at noon to pick his party. 
 
 Fox News’ Carl Cameron and Serafin Gomez contributed to this report. ||||| Florida Gov. Charlie Crist has told two close associates that he will leave the Republican primary to run as a third-party candidate for the U.S. Senate, POLITICO has learned. 
 
 Crist is expected to make the announcement Thursday evening at a park in St. Petersburg, his hometown, surrounded by family supporters from both parties. 
 
 By bolting the GOP, Crist would set up an extraordinary three-way race that could threaten the GOP hold on the Senate seat previously held by Mel Martinez. Crist, who is expected to formally run on the "No Party Affiliation" line would face Rep. Kendrick Meek, a Democrat, and Republican former state House Speaker Marco Rubio. 
 
 One adviser, who spoke with Crist Monday night, said he believed the governor made his decision weeks ago after it became clear his TV attacks against Rubio weren't working. 
 
 “They ran negatives and it didn’t budge,” said the adviser, referring to the blistering ads Crist launched against Rubio's use of a state party credit card during his time in the legislature. 
 
 The adviser said that Crist’s speech is expected to focus on how the “two-party system is broken” and how his candidacy will place the people of Florida ahead of the interests of the two major parties. 
 
 “He’ll say he doesn’t want to be judged by a small minority, but by all the people who he serves,” said the adviser. 
 
 But Crist’s hand was plainly forced by the rise of Rubio, who has harnessed conservative energy to propel him to a large double-digit lead in the polls. 
 
 The adviser said Crist has not decided which party to caucus with if he is able to win the three-way race. 
 
 Even as his campaign released details of a planned "Senate Qualyfing Event," the governor himself was coy about his decision when approached by reporters in Tallahassee Wednesday. 
 
 Asked how he would reconcile running with no party affiliation after saying he'd run as a Republican, Crist said, "I don't know, number one, that I'm not, and number two, if I were to, I would say what I said the other day: Things change," according to the Associated Press. 
 
 Crist conducted polling earlier this week gauging his chances as an independent, but other longtime Crist advisers professed uncertainty as to what the often-unpredictable governor would do.
– Charlie Crist will tell the world tomorrow whether he plans to run for Senate as an independent, and a flurry of reports say he's already decided to make the switch. Anonymous sources close to the Florida governor have told Fox News, Politico, and the Miami Herald that he will bolt the GOP. Crist is expected to spend tomorrow making courtesy calls to supporters ahead of his afternoon press conference. During the announcement, he will likely say that he intends to caucus with Senate Republicans, notes Fox. Crist, the onetime frontrunner who now trails Tea Party favorite Marco Rubio for the GOP nod, must formally announce his affiliation by Friday.