| Marco Rubio | |
|---|---|
| United States Senator from Florida |
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| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office January 3, 2011 Serving with Bill Nelson |
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| Preceded by | George LeMieux |
| Speaker of the Florida House of Representatives | |
| In office January 2, 2007 – January 2, 2009 |
|
| Preceded by | Allan Bense |
| Succeeded by | Ray Sansom |
| Member of the Florida House of Representatives from the 111th district |
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| In office January 25, 2000 – January 2, 2009 |
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| Preceded by | Carlos Valdes |
| Succeeded by | Erik Fresen |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Marco Antonio Rubio May 28, 1971 Miami, Florida |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse(s) | Jeanette Dousdebes; 4 children |
| Alma mater | University of Florida (B.A.) University of Miami (J.D.) |
| Profession | Lawyer |
| Religion | Roman Catholic[1] |
| Website | Senator Marco Rubio |
Marco Antonio Rubio (born May 28, 1971) is the junior United States Senator from Florida (2011–present). A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as Speaker of the Florida House of Representatives (2007–2009).
Born to Cuban immigrants, Rubio was raised in Miami, Florida and Las Vegas, Nevada. He attended Tarkio College and Santa Fe Community College before graduating from the University of Florida. He earned his law degree from the University of Miami School of Law in 1996 while interning for U.S. Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen. In the late 1990s he served as a City Commissioner for West Miami. Rubio was elected to the Florida House of Representatives in 2000, representing the 111th House district. He was elected Speaker in November 2006.
Rubio announced a run for U.S. Senate in May 2009 after incumbent Republican Mel Martinez resigned. Initially trailing by double-digits against the incumbent Republican Governor Charlie Crist, Rubio eventually surpassed him in polling for the Republican nomination. Rubio won the Republican nomination after Crist opted instead for an independent run. In a three-way split against Crist and Democratic candidate Kendrick Meek, Rubio won the general election in November 2010 by a 19-point margin.
Rubio has been called the "crown prince" of the Tea Party movement and "the Michael Jordan of Republican politics."[2][3] He has been mentioned as a potential choice for Republican Vice President in 2012 but has said he is not interested.[4]
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Rubio was born in Miami, Florida,[5] the second son and third child of Mario Rubio (1927–2010)[6] and Oria Garcia (born 1931). His parents were Cubans who had emigrated to the United States in 1956 and were later naturalized as U.S. citizens in 1975.[7]
He was baptized, confirmed, and married in the Catholic Church[1][8][9] but now attends Christ Fellowship, an evangelical Protestant Church in West Kendall, Florida.[10]
Rubio attended South Miami Senior High School and graduated in 1989. He then attended Tarkio College for one year on a football scholarship from 1989 to 1990, before enrolling at Santa Fe Community College (later renamed Santa Fe College). He earned his Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Florida in 1993, and his J.D. degree cum laude from the University of Miami School of Law in 1996.[11]
While studying law, he interned for U.S. Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen.[12] Marco Rubio served as a City Commissioner for West Miami before being elected to the Florida legislature.
He was elected to the Florida House of Representatives for the 111th district in a special election on January 25, 2000. He has won each of his re-election bids.[13] In November 2006, he was elected Speaker of the Florida State House for the 2006–08 term.
He is the author of the book 100 Innovative Ideas for Florida's Future. This book was compiled from Rubio's travels around the state to gather ideas from citizens. This was done through what Rubio calls "Idearaisers". Many of the issues that he pushed for in his first year as speaker came from ideas in this book. During 2007, Marco Rubio championed a major overhaul of the Florida tax system. He argued it would reduce property taxes and decrease the size of government.
During his tenure serving as Speaker of the House of Florida, Rubio shared his residence with another Florida State Representative, David Rivera.[14] The two men co-owned a home together in Tallahassee, which later fell into foreclosure after deferring months of mortgage payments. This issue surfaced in June 2010, during Rubio's run for the US Senate but was considered resolved according to Rubio's spokesman.
On May 5, 2009, Rubio announced on his website that he planned to run for the United States Senate in 2010 for the Republican seat being vacated by Sen. Mel Martinez, who had resigned and been replaced by George LeMieux. Prior to the announcement, he had been meeting with fundraisers and supporters throughout the state.[15] Initially trailing by double-digits against the incumbent Governor of his own party, Charlie Crist, Rubio eventually surpassed Crist in polling for the Republican nomination.[16][17]
On April 28, 2010, Crist announced he would be running as an independent, effectively ceding the Republican nomination to Rubio.[18] Several of Crist's top fundraisers, as well as Republican leadership, refused[19][20] to support Crist after Rubio won the Republican nomination for Senate.[21]
On November 2, 2010, Marco Rubio won the senatorial election with 48.9% of the vote to Crist's 29.7% and Democrat Kendrick Meek's 20.1%.[22] On May 20, 2011 Marco Rubio visited Puerto Rico's governor, Luis Fortuño, and made a statement of wanting to "represent the Puerto Ricans" since he already felt he owed those who had voted for him in the Florida election.[23]
Following his victory in the elections, Rubio soon became the subject of speculation as a potential GOP candidate for the presidential election of 2012.[24][25][26] Rubio stated shortly after taking office that he has no interest in running for president or vice president in 2012.[24][27]
Upon taking office, Rubio hired Cesar Conda, former lobbyist and "top domestic policy adviser to Vice President Dick Cheney during the first two years of the Bush administration" as his Chief of Staff.[28] Conda is "a well-known and highly regarded policy wonk" with experience in both the executive and legislative branches of government. He is also a member of the Congressional Hispanic Conference.
In October 2011, the St. Petersburg Times and the Washington Post reported that Rubio's previous statements that his parents were forced to leave Cuba in 1959, after Fidel Castro came to power, were incorrect as they had in fact left Cuba in 1956 during the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista. According to the Washington Post, Rubio's "embellishments" resonate with many voters in Florida, who would not be as impressed by his family being economic migrants seeking a better life in the U.S. instead of being political refugees from a communist regime.[7] Rubio responded, "The real essence of my family’s story is not about the date my parents first entered the United States. Or whether they traveled back and forth between the two nations. Or even the date they left Fidel Castro’s Cuba forever and permanently settled here."[29][30][31] According to a number of commentators within the Cuban exile community in Miami, Rubio is justified to continue to characterize himself as a son of exiles.[31][32]
Rubio married Jeanette Dousdebes, a former Miami Dolphins cheerleader, in 1997. She is of Colombian descent, and together they have four children named Amanda, Daniella, Anthony, and Dominic.[33] Rubio and his family live in West Miami, Florida.[1][34] While Rubio attends Catholic Mass,[35] he has also attended and donated to the Christ Fellowship Church in West Kendall, Florida.[8][36] This church, one of the largest in the United States,[37] is an evangelical Protestant church.[35] Some observers have speculated that his attendance at both Catholic and Protestant churches is an attempt to court Hispanic voters.[38]
| Florida U.S. Senate Election 2010 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Republican | Marco Rubio | 2,645,743 | 48.9% | ||
| Independent | Charlie Crist | 1,607,549 | 29.7% | ||
| Democratic | Kendrick Meek | 1,092,936 | 20.2% | ||
| United States Senate | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by George LeMieux |
United States Senator (Class 3) from Florida January 3, 2011 – present Served alongside: Bill Nelson |
Succeeded by Incumbent |
| United States order of precedence | ||
| Preceded by John Hoeven R-North Dakota |
United States Senators by seniority 94th |
Succeeded by Ron Johnson R-Wisconsin |
| Florida House of Representatives | ||
| Preceded by Carlos Valdes |
Member of the Florida House of Representatives from the 111th district 2000–2009 |
Succeeded by Erik Fresen |
| Preceded by Allan Bense |
Speaker of the Florida House of Representatives 2007–2009 |
Succeeded by Ray Sansom |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by Mel Martinez |
Republican Party nominee for United States Senator from Florida (Class 3) 2010 |
Succeeded by Current |
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