Many In The GOP Establishment Want Rubio To Run
WASHINGTON – This afternoon Florida’s junior Sen. Marco Rubio, told reporters that he seriously is reconsidering a run for reelection. Rubio re-opened the door to running after speaking with Florida Lt. Gov. Carlos Lopez-Cantera, a close friend of his who is running to replace him.
Rubio faces a deadline of next week to decide whether to enter the GOP primary for his seat. But citing the mass shooting over the weekend at the Pulse club in Orlando, nightclub that killed 49 made him rethink his decision, Rubio said.
“Obviously, I take very seriously everything that’s going on — not just Orlando, but in our country,” he said. “I enjoy my service here a lot. So I’ll go home later this week, and I’ll have some time with my family, and then if there’s been a change in our status I’ll be sure to let everyone know.”
Rubio would likely face a challenge in the primary from, Rep. David Jolly (R-Fla.), said that he would make an announcement on Friday as to whether he would stay in the race.
Rubio said last year that he would not run for president and his Senate seat at the same time — a decision many Republican leaders have urged him to reconsider since ending his presidential bid in March.
Recent polling might be one reason that he giving running for a second term some consideration. In the most recent Mason-Dixon poll released earlier this week nearly half of Florida voters want Rubio to seek re-election, according to a new poll that finds a messy Republican primary field to replace him if he doesn’t.
The aforementioned Mason-Dixon Polling & Research survey found 49 percent of respondents — including 77 percent of Republicans — think Rubio should run for a second term.
On the Republican side, five candidates remain mostly unknown. Sarasota developer Carlos Beruff is ahead with 17 percent, followed by U.S. Rep. David Jolly of Indian Shores with 13 percent, U.S. Rep. Ron DeSantis of Ponte Vedra Beach with 10 percent, Lt. Gov. Carlos Lopez-Cantera of Miami with 9 percent and Orlando defense contractor Todd Wilcox with 2 percent.
Meanwhile, over 40 percent of voters are undecided in the Democratic and Republican primaries. On the Democratic side, U.S. Rep. Patrick Murphy of Jupiter leads U.S. Rep. Alan Grayson of Orlando by 31-23 percent, with first-time candidate Pam Keith at 3 percent
The poll’s error margin is plus-or-minus 5 percentage points. Mason-Dixon surveyed 625 registered voters from May 31-June 2, over-sampling 400 likely Democratic voters and 400 likely Republican voters for the Senate-race questions.
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