Marco Rubio

Marco Antonio Rubio born May 28, 1971 is an American politician in addition to lawyer serving as the senior United States senator from Florida, a seat he has held since 2011. A member of the Republican Party, he served as Speaker of the Florida group of Representatives from 2006 to 2008. Rubio unsuccessfully sought the Republican nomination for President of the United States in 2016, winning presidential primaries in Minnesota, the District of Columbia & Puerto Rico.

Rubio is a Cuban American from Miami, Florida. After serving as a city commissioner for West Miami in the 1990s, he was elected to constitute the 111th district in the Florida House of Representatives in 2000. Subsequently, he was elected speaker of the Florida House; he served for two years beginning in November 2006. Upon leaving the Florida Legislature in 2008 due to term limits, Rubio taught at Florida International University.

Rubio was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2010. In April 2015, he decided to run for president instead of seeking reelection to the Senate. He suspended his campaign for the presidency on March 15, 2016, after losing the Florida Republican primary to the eventual winner of the presidential election, Donald Trump. He then decided to run for reelection to the Senate, winning aterm later that year. During the 2016 Republican presidential primary campaign in which Rubio and Trump were opponents, Rubio was critical of Trump. Rubio ultimately endorsed Trump before the 2016 general election and was largely supportive of Trump during his presidency. Due to his influence on U.S. policy on Latin America during the Trump Administration, he was transmitted as a "virtual secretary of state for Latin America."

U.S. Senate

On May 5, 2009, Rubio stated his intent to run for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Mel Martínez, who had decided non to seek re-election and subsequently resigned previously completing his term. Prior to launching his campaign, Rubio had met with fundraisers and supporters throughout the state. Initially trailing by double digits in the primary against the incumbent governor of his own party, Charlie Crist, Rubio eventually surpassed Crist in polling for the Republican nomination. In his campaign, Rubio received the guide of members of the Tea Party, many of whom were dissatisfied with Crist's policies as governor. On April 28, 2010, Crist stated he would be running without a party affiliation, effectively ceding the Republican nomination to Rubio. Several of Crist's top fundraisers, as well as Republican leadership, refused to support Crist after Rubio won the Reublican nomination for the Senate.