Rick Scott

Late last night, the former Republican governor of Florida, Charlie Crist, announced on Twitter that he had officially joined the Democratic Party:

Proud and honored to join the Democratic Party in the home of President @barackobama! twitter.com/charliecristfl…

— Charlie Crist (@charliecristfl) December 8, 2012

The picture Crist tweeted of himself appears to show him holding up some sort of party registration form.

Crist was a one-term Florida governor, from 2007-2011. And when he lost the Republican primary for Senate in 2010 to Marco Rubio, he decided to switch parties and become an independent. So he ran the 2010 election as an independent, but lost anyway by 19 percentage points.

In the 2012 presidential election, Crist was a supporter and surrogate for President Barack Obama.

There is much local speculation that with Crist's move to the Democratic party, he's gearing up for another state-wide run for office.

"The widely expected move positions Crist, 56, for another highly anticipated next step: announcing his candidacy for governor, taking on Republican incumbent Gov. Rick Scott and an untold number of Democrats who would challenge him for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination," reports the Tampa Bay Times.