A Florida judge has refused to grant class-action status to a lawsuit by contributors who claim Gov. Charlie Crist cheated them by becoming an independent.

The plaintiffs, Linda Morton of Naples and James Rood of Jacksonville, a former U.S. ambassador to the Bahamas, had also asked the court to freeze $7.5 million in Crist's campaign warchest, the Fort Myers News-Press reported. Senior Circuit Judge Jack Schoonover refused Thursday to convert the lawsuit to a class action and has twice refused to freeze any of Crist's funds.

Tom Grady, a lawyer for the plaintiffs said Crist, who is running as an independent for the U.S. Senate, could be hit with hundreds of small claims cases from individual donors.

Crist dropped his affiliation with the Republican Party several months ago after polls showed him losing the primary to Marco Rubio, a former speaker of the state House of Representatives and Tea Party favorite.