The next Senator from Florida is almost certainly going to be Marco Rubio. Kendrick Meek and Charlie Crist split the center-left of the electorate and spent most of their time in the campaign beating each other up, while Rubio, unchallenged, coasted into the lead. The race has gotten so far out of hand now that I don’t think that the claim Crist would caucus with Democrats matters anymore.

Thanks to a brutal Republican primary battle between Attorney General Bill McCollum and billionaire Rick Scott, Democrat Alex Sink has been able to take the lead for the first time in Quinnipac’s newest poll.

The great state of Florida happens to have not one but two self-financed billionaire political novices running in primaries for top offices this year. Both are challenging veteran politicians with long histories in the state, and according to a new Quinnipiac poll, both have a double-digit lead over their opponents.

The latest PPP poll (PDF) shows Florida Gov. Charlie Crist holding on to his modest plurality in his independent bid for the United States Senate. Republican Marco Rubio comes in second, and the official Democrat is stuck in the teens.

We’ll have to see how it develops, but the muck is flying in Florida.

As the popularity of offshore drilling slips in the polls, Kendrick Meek is staking out ground in opposition to drilling, putting Charlie Crist and Marco Rubio in a tough spot.

In a press conference concluded just moments ago, Charlie Crist, the Governor of Florida, announced he would end his campaign for US Senate as a Republican and run with no party affiliation. This sets up a likely three-way race for the Florida seat between Crist, Republican Marco Rubio and Democrat Kendrick Meek.

Tomorrow we will discover Charlie Crist’s decision on whether to leave the Republican Party and run for the US Senate as an independent. And apparently, he’s taken a look at the idea in a poll, and saw numbers he liked.

It’s a testament to the institutional power of the Republican Party that not even the man Charlie Crist appointed to the US Senate, his former chief of staff, would follow him to an independent bid if Crist decided on that option.

The Florida Republican Party faces a criminal investigation from the IRS, FBI and the US Attorney’s office over party-issued American Express card spending. And among the members of the state GOP implicated is none other than Marco Rubio.

To be sure, Charlie Crist is at most one step removed from this mess – Jim Greer was a top ally. But Rubio’s direct involvement has to weigh on his chances in the US Senate race. Rubio has a squeaky-clean, rock-ribbed conservative image that, when placed against this lavish personal spending and potential concealment, does not match.