Marco Rubio Intro

                         Marco Rubio

Background Info:                                      

Senator: Florida

Born in 1971 (Age 43)
Born and raised in Miami, Florida

Previous member of the House of Representatives from Florida. (2007-2009)

Education:

Attended Tarkio College for one year on a football scholarship from 1989 to 1990, before enrolling at Santa Fe College. He earned his Bachelor of Science degree in political science from the University of Florida in 1993, and his J.D. degree cum laude from the University of Miami School of Law in 1996.Rubio said that his education resulted in $100,000 of student loans, which he paid off in 2012.
http://www.rubio.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/about?p=biography

Personal Life:

Religion: Roman Catholic

Rubio married Jeanette Dousdebes, a former bank teller and Miami Dolphins cheerleader, in 1998.She is of Colombian descent; together they have four children. Rubio and his family live in West Miami, Florida. Rubio attends Christ Fellowship Church in West Kendell, Florida^] as well as Catholic services. After leaving the Florida House of Representatives due to term limits in January 2009, Rubio started his own law firm. In February, he declared himself a candidate for U.S. Senate in the 2010 election cycle. In an interview in 2012, Rubio said: "I'm a Roman Catholic. I'm theologically in line with the Roman Catholic Church. I believe in the authority of the church, but I also have tremendous respect for my brothers and sisters in other Christian faiths.

Florida House:

In late 1999, a special election was called to fill the seat for the 111th House District in the Florida House of Representatives, representing Miami. The seat had been held by Representative Carlos Valdes, who had run for and won an open Florida State Senate seat.

Rubio placed second in the Republican primary on December 14, 1999, but won the run-off election for the Republican nomination, by 64 votes.He then defeated Democrat Anastasia Garcia with 72% of the vote in a January 25, 2000 special election.

In November 2000, Rubio won re-election unopposed. In 2002, he won re-election to a second full term unopposed. In 2004, he won re-election to a third full term with 66% of the vote.In 2006, he won re-election to a fourth full term unopposed.

In December 2002, Rubio was appointed House Majority Leader by Speaker Johnnie Byrd. He became the first Cuban American to become Speaker of the House of Representatives in Florida.

Florida Senate:

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%
	Libertarian	Alexander Snitker	24,850	0.5%

On May 5, 2009, Rubio announced on his website that he planned to run for the United States Senate seat being vacated by 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. 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.

On April 28, 2010, Crist announced 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 Republican nomination for the Senate.

On November 2, 2010, Marco Rubio won the general election with 49 percent of the vote to Crist's 30% and Democrat Kendrick Meeks's 20%. Following his victory in the elections, Rubio soon became the subject of speculation as a potential Republican Candidate for the 2012 Presidential Election, Rubio stated shortly after taking office that he had no interest in running for president or vice president in 2012.

2016 Presidency:

In April 2014, the departure of Cesar Conda, Rubio’s chief of staff since 2011, was seen as a sign of Rubio’s plans to run for President in 2016. Conda will lead Rubio's Reclaim America PAC as a senior adviser, and will remain as a part-time advisor to Rubio.

Groups supporting Rubio raised over $530,000 in the first three months of 2014, most of which was spent on consultants and data analytics, in what was seen as preparations for a presidential campaign.

A poll from the WMUR/University, tracking New Hampshire Republican primary voters' sentiment, showed Rubio at the top alongside Kentucky senator Rand Paul later in 2013, but as of April 18, 2014 he had dropped to 10th place behind other Republican contenders. The poll, however, also suggests that Rubio is not disliked by the primary voters, which could be positive for him if other candidates choose not to run. Rubio placed second among potential 2016 Republican presidential candidates in an online poll of likely voters conducted by Zogby Analytics in January 2015.

In January of 2015, it was reported that Rubio had begun contacting top donors and appointing advisors for a potential 2016 run, including George Seay, who previously worked on such campaigns as Rick Perry's in 2012 and Mitt Romney's in 2008, and Jim Rubright, who had previously worked for Jeb Bush, Romney, and John Mccain,  Rubio also instructed his aides to "prepare for a presidential campaign" prior to a Team Marco 2016 fundraising meeting in South Beach