"I think Governor Crist is someone who has support from conservatives, but also people who may think of themselves as more centrists and some Democrats, as well," Martinez told WOKV's Jamie Dupree. "So I think he crosses the spectrum."

Governor Crist is seen by many as the early front-runner in the U.S. Senate race with far more name recognition than GOP rival Marco Rubio, the former Florida House speaker, and Democrats Kendrick Meek, a south Florida congressman, and Dan Gelber, a Democratic leader in the state senate.

But, Rubio is drawing a lot of attention from conservatives and right-leaning Republicans who were turned off by Crist's enthusiastic support of President Obama's economic recovery efforts and use of federal stimulus dollars.

Martinez doesn't think that will hurt Crist in next year's election.

"If you look at his poll numbers in any poll that you look at, it looks very strong for the Governor," he said.

Martinez's endorsement followed the same sentiments from Texas Senator John Cornyn, the chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee.

"I think he's a winner," Cornyn said. "I think [Crist] is our best bet to retain that senate seat."

Keeping Martinez's senate seat in GOP hands may be the motivation behind Crist's early support. Both Martinez and Cornyn voiced admiration and respect for Rubio, but questioned his ability to win a general election.

"At this point, a sitting governor with high approval ratings like Governor Crist has the best chance to not only win the nomination, but win the seat," Cornyn said.

Martinez suggests Rubio seek his political sights elsewhere.

"Marco Rubio is a very talented young man and a great candidate for many offices," Martinez said. "As it relates to this particular race, my hope is that he would choose to maybe run for Attorney General, which will be open, I think."

Current Attorney General Bill McCollum is widely regarded as a possible gubernatorial candidate. McCollum says he'll announce his 2010 plans next week.

Rubio's campaign has not directly responded to Martinez's comments, but on his personal Twitter page, Rubio wrote yesterday "It appears I won't win the Washington D.C primary. Lucky for me I am running in the Florida GOP primary."