Gov. Charlie Crist may or may not be the next U.S. senator from Florida, but this much is certain: Florida will never be the same.

Crist's decision to forgo a second term as governor and instead seek an open Senate seat in Washington has unleashed a torrent of political ambition that could mark the 2010 election cycle as a turning point in the state's modern evolution.

For the first time, the governorship and all three Cabinet seats will change hands -- an unprecedented level of turnover, even in the term-limits era. Florida could get its first woman governor or woman attorney general.

Crist's move could cause a dramatic shift in power and become a turning point in the state's evolution, on par with the adoption of term limits by voters in 1992 or the upheaval that followed a Supreme Court decision that invalidated the 1966 legislative elections because of malapportioned Senate and House districts.

``This is going to mean an immense shift in power,'' said Talbot ``Sandy'' D'Alemberte, a longtime student of Florida politics who served as a legislator, American Bar Association president and Florida State University president. ``It's going to bring about some of the biggest changes we've ever seen.''

Two Cabinet members, Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink and Attorney General Bill McCollum, are leaving their jobs to run for governor. The third, Agriculture Commissioner Charlie Bronson, is term limited.

Had Crist run for reelection as governor, he would have been the clear favorite, and Sink and McCollum likely would have run for new terms in their current jobs, largely maintaining the status quo for four more years.

Now, Florida could get its first woman governor (Sink, a Democrat who would end the Republicans' 12-year hold on the office) or its first woman attorney general (two Republican candidates are women, Holly Benson and Pam Bondi).

The intense jockeying will occur in a turbulent political time, with voters restless over the economic crisis and incumbent politicians seen as particularly vulnerable.

As with other game-changing developments, the full impact won't be evident for several years. Historians likely will dissect the effects of Crist's decision to be the first governor to not seek a second term since 1968, when the state Constitution was changed to allow it.

Crist is leaving the governor's office, and leaving behind a blueprint for big change.

Steve Bousquet can be reached at bousquet@sptimes.com or (850) 224-7263.