Crist belonged to the GOP when he was elected governor in 2007. He described himself then as a "Ronald Reagan Republican."
He pulled another page from the former president's book Monday on CNN's Piers Morgan Tonight quoting Reagan, who famously said he hadn't left the Democratic Party – it had left him.
But Crist was talking about the GOP.
"I think the leadership of the party today has just moved in a direction that even Jeb Bush said not long ago that probably it would be difficult for Ronald Reagan to succeed in today's Republican Party", said Crist.
On Tuesday, after the all-GOP Florida Cabinet met, Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam said Crist had called himself a "Jeb Bush Republican," too – until 2010, when he ran for the U.S. Senate instead of a second term as governor.
"Then when he was falling behind, he switched to independent in his race against Rubio. And now he's back as a Democrat", said Putnam. "I don't know how loyal Democrats take his conversion seriously."
Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater also joked about Crist's three party registrations in as many years.
Atwater said, "He's been a Republican, he's been an independent. He's now a Democrat. I don't know what's left. Maybe some other parties that would like his participation will start soliciting him."
Crist officially changed his registration at the White House Christmas party Friday night, earning a fist bump from President Barack Obama. He's widely expected to challenge Governor Rick Scott's bid for re-election in 2014.