Florida Gov. Charlie Crist's exit from the Republican Party triggered an immediate and unsurprising reaction from the NRSC, which removed its endorsement of him and threw its support instead behind Marco Rubio.

"We can no longer support the candidacy of Governor Charlie Crist for the U.S. Senate," said every member of Republican Senate leadership in a joint statement. "The Governor said he has been 'listening to the people.' We hope he will listen to the thousands of Republican donors who will no doubt ask Governor Crist to return their donations. We will request full refunds ourselves and we plan to put our resources and support behind Marco Rubio."

The NRSC's endorsement of Crist had been in name only in recent months, as the committee realized its mistake backing a candidate in a competitive primary. The committee orginially endorsed Crist over Rubio because of the belief that Crist had the best chance to win the general election. At that point, no one could have guessed he wouldn't have even made it out of the primary.

Democratic statements in the immediate aftermath of Crist's announcement that he would run as an independent focused on a schism within the Republican Party.

"Charlie Crist and Marco Rubio are the two latest casualties of a divided Republican Party cannibalizing itself," said DSCC Chairman Robert Menendez. "As usual, Charlie Crist is putting his political ambition first and Marco Rubio is threatening to impose his extreme philosophical agenda."

DNC Chairman Tim Kaine jumped in as well: "Charlie Crist's announcement today that he will run as an Independent is the latest example of the corrosive civil war waging among Republicans. Over the past year, the GOP has been purging members who fail to embrace the far right-wing extremist views of the Tea Party and it has made clear that it will no longer accept officials who attempt to work across the aisle or even consider putting their country before their party's ideology."

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