Robert Smith (Getty)

Former New Hampshire Sen. Robert C. Smith announced Monday that he is once again officially a candidate for the Senate – this time for the open seat in Florida.

Smith, who served in the Senate from 1991 to 2003, has lived in Sarasota, Fla., for seven years. He joins a GOP primary field that includes Gov. Charlie Crist and former Florida House Speaker Marco Rubio for the seat Republican Mel Martinez is leaving after one term. Four-term Rep. Kendrick Meek announced his candidacy in January and is the leading Democratic in the growing field of candidates.  

“I can no longer sit on the sidelines in this fight for the soul of the Republican Party and to preserve the freedoms and values of our constitutional Republic,” Smith said in a statement posted on his Web site . “I have 18 years of proven and principled conservative leadership and I proudly wear the scars of those battles… I led the fights for protecting freedom and liberty, respect for the Constitution, the preservation of the Second Amendment, the rights of the unborn, U.S. sovereignty, a strong national defense, cutting taxes and spending and reducing the size of government.”