UPDATE: We missed one donor. A $2,400 donation from Thomas Petway doesn’t show up in a search of the FEC’s electronic files. But the paper records clearly show his contribution. So of the 20 Republicans who signed the letter, nine donated to Crist and eight still have money in his campaign. The blog has been updated to correct the error.

Twenty Republican fund-raisers signed a letter today calling on newly independent Gov. Charlie Crist to return campaign contributions he received from GOP donors.

“As part of your transition into this new phase of your political career, we respectfully request that you return every penny of donor money from every donor who asks for a refund. For those of us who have donated to your Senate campaign, you can start by refunding in full the contributions we have made,” the letter reads.

But just eight of the 20 have any money sitting in Crist’s campaign coffers, records show.

One of the 20 who signed the letter, Gay Gaines of Palm Beach, hasn’t given to Crist in at least 15 years. She donated $2,400 this year to Crist’s GOP rival, Marco Rubio, whose campaign circulated the letter. .

“I’ve never thought he was very dependable,” Gaines said of Crist. “I guess my instincts were right.”

Former U.S. Ambassador Al Hoffman helped write the letter, but he asked for — and received — his cash back in February, just weeks after Hoffman helped push former state GOP chairman Jim Greer out the door.

“When I discovered, in my view, that Charlie was complicit in the Jim Greer debacle, I couldn’t swallow it,” Hoffman said.

Hoffman said he believes Crist was aware that Greer and Delmar Johnson, then the party’s executive director, were diverting 10 percent of all party donations their LLC known as Victory Strategies.

“How could he not have been aware of that?,” Hoffman said. “If he wasn’t aware of it it means he was totally incompetent. If he was aware of it, he was complicit. Either way it’s pretty damning.”

Here’s our story of the day’s events in the U.S. Senate race.

And keep reading for the text of the letter along with the list of which signatories actually gave to Crist’s Senate campaign.

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UPDATE: Not exactly sure what’s happening over the Florida Republican Party. But the auction was re-started almost four hours ago, minus some of the biting rhetoric that accompanied the party’s initial eBay post.

The Florida Republican Party said today that eBay has removed its auction of a painting of Gov. Charlie Crist purchased before Crist left the party.

Party spokeswoman Katie Betta says, “We were notified by eBay today regarding some concerns they had with our original posting which were easily addressed and the posting was quickly re-listed. The Party could have easily made these changes had we been notified in advance of EBay publishing our original listing of the painting, or at any time over the course of the last two days. Instead, the auction was abruptly ended in what is clearly a political move.”

We’re awaiting a response from eBay.

The painting had received more than 100 bids and was selling for more than $6,000 before the item was yanked.

Gov. Charlie Crist says his independent campaign hasn’t just helped his Democratic and Republican opponents. Crist says today that “the response has been overwhelming.”

Crist writes in a fund-raising plea that since his announcement Thursday his campaign has attracted thousands of new volunteers, 800 new donors and received more Internet traffic to his campaign website and social network pages since he announced his intent to run for U.S. Senate.

“This is no accident,” Crist writes. “Floridians want something different – real solutions, not political posturing. We’ve got momentum and we need to keep it going.”

Crist asks for valuable small-dollar donations in an attempt to collect $100,000 by May 10.

“If we succeed, we’ll sound a powerful message – the people of Florida have a voice and they want to be heard. This race has become so much more than about any one person. The entire country is watching and joining in our fight to change the broken ways of Washington,” Crist writes.

The response from Florida Republicans to Charlie Crist’s newfound independence has been sharp and quick.

Here’s a recap from the past few days:

• The Florida Republican Party sent out another tough press release last night telling supporters that “You can’t spell Charlie without ‘lie.’” The release reminds voters of Crist’s ties to disgraced attorney Scott Rothstein; includes a picture of Crist partying at a Tallahassee night club during his first year as governor; recycles the President Obama hug; and refers to the past year of troubles at the party as the “sad era of Charlie Crist and Jim Greer’s leadership.”

• Republican U.S. Senate candidate Marco Rubio released a web ad this morning that shows that the “I-know-you-are-but-what-am-I” debate between these two is one thing that hasn’t changed in this race.

• Finally, Florida Federation of Republican Women President Cindy Graves sent an open letter to Crist blaming him for John McCain winning the Republican presidential nomination and warning him of their next meeting on the campaign trail.

Here’s the full text of the letter:

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The Florida Republican Party has put a portrait of Gov. Charlie Crist on eBay, hoping to recoup some of the cash it spent on the painting under former Chairman Jim Greer’s tenure.

Crist’s former party uses the auction to hammer the newly-independent U.S. Senate candidate as an unprincipled, poll-driven politician. Here’s their description of the painting:

★Canvas is naturally sensitive to changes of temperature and humidity, just as the Charlie Crist’s political convictions are subject to fluctuations in poll numbers.

★Depending upon variety of conditions, the stretch canvas may periodically lose and regain tautness, much like Charlie Crist periodically loosens or regains positions on a variety of issues.

★Ornate gold frame made of manufactured wood, similar to the fabricated conservative values of the politician depicted within.

Gov. Charlie Crist confirmed today he will drop the Republican classification from his voter registration card, something he does not have to do to run as an independent.

“If you’re going to do it, do it,” Crist told the Post.

But going without a party affiliation means he won’t get to vote in the party’s U.S. Senate primary, which includes his nemesis, former House Speaker Marco Rubio, and three other lesser-known Republicans.

Crist laughed at the suggestion that he’d want to keep his affiliation to vote in the race.

“Who’s all in it?” he said. “No, I don’t need to do that.”

Crist said his communications director, Andrea Saul, will transition off the campaign now that he’s no longer running as a Republican. Crist said he has not heard the same from his campaign manager, Erik Eikenberg, who is also expected to also leave the campaign.

Crist said he hadn’t read the statement from U.S. Sen. George LeMieux, his one-time confidante, who said today that his loyalty to the party trumps his friendship with Crist.

“It’s unfortunate,” Crist said.

We also told Crist of the quote from Mac Stipanovich, a GOP strategist who blasted LeMieux’s statement. Stipanovich told the St. Petersburg Times that, “George LeMieux is a Mount Everest of ambition shoehorned into a molehill of a man.“

“Is that what he said?” Crist said, before disappearing into his office.

We caught up for a few minutes today with Bradley Tusk, the campaign manager for New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Bloomberg, like Charlie Crist, was initially elected as a Republican.

Bloomberg dropped his party affiliation in his second term and was elected as an independent. Crist is expected to keep his Republican registration, but wants Florida voters to elect him to the U.S. Senate as an independent. (Background on Crist’s announcement today here.)

Bloomberg also considered running for president as in independent candidate in 2008.

There are many differences between Crist and Bloomberg, but the biggest has to be cash. Fundraising has never been a political calculation for Bloomberg, who pays for his own mayoral campaigns and could finance a presidential run if he wanted. Crist is famously cheap, but could not be considered wealthy.

“When you don’t raise a penny from anybody, you can really govern independently. You’re inherently seen as independent,” Tusk said. “When you change affiliation on the last possible day, you may not get that benefit.”

Bloomberg has helped other independent candidates, who he identifies on an issue-by-issue basis. Tusk said they haven’t considered helping Crist.

Voters shut out of the Democratic presidential primary race in 2008, forced to cast a ballot for Mark Foley’s name in 2006 and introduced to hanging chads in 2000 clearly understand that the Sunshine State is a frequent and welcome guest on the 24-hour cable news channels.

And Republican Gov. Charlie Crist has once again thrust Florida into the center of the national political discussion with his announcement, expected Thursday, that he’ll run as an independent candidate for the U.S. Senate.

Story here.

Other recent Charlie Crist stories:

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