Seeking higher ground in the investigation of the Republican Party's deepening financial swamp, Gov. Charlie Crist could end up sinking his own U.S. Senate campaign.

Crist's call for a federal probe of party credit-card use "may end up working as well as the rest of his campaign tacks — in other words, it may backfire," Robert Costa of National Review wrote Wednesday.

Candidates keep piling into next year's Jacksonville mayoral race. Publisher Jim Bailey and General Counsel Rick Mullaney joined the Republican field this week, while City Councilwoman Glorious Johnson, initially elected as a Republican, will be running as a Democrat.