Former Sen. Smith files in Florida

Former Sen. Bob Smith (R-N.H.) is now officially running for Senate in Florida.

The St. Pete Times’s Adam Smith reports:

Former New Hampshire Sen. Bob Smith, now of Sarasota, has filed to run for Florida’s open US senate seat: “I can no longer sit on the sidelines in the fight for the soul of the Republican party.”

He called Charie Crist a “movement away from our core conservative values.” And Marco Rubio? “Leadership is not about counting votes and making compromises. His experience as speaker of the House makes Rubio a good coalition builder. However, strong political leadership, not wheeling and dealing, will ignite out base and restore our party to power.”

Smith lost in a 2002 primary to former Sen. John Sununu (R-N.H.) and moved to Sarasota, Fla.

He threatened to run for the same Florida seat in 2004 and didn’t get much traction. So despite the title “former senator,” it’s going to take something special for him to have a big impact on this race.

Here’s his announcement video.